MANCHESTER UNITED fear Wayne Rooney will NOT sign a new contract.
The striker defied Alex Ferguson by claiming the boss was wrong to suggest an ankle injury had kept him out of action.
After England drew 0-0 with Montenegro on Tuesday, Rooney insisted: "I've had no problems with my ankle all season."
And when asked why Fergie had said he did, the hitman replied: "Don't know."
That is only fuelling concerns talks over a new five-year deal will fall flat.
Out-of-form Rooney has missed United's last two games following allegations he slept with a prostitute.
Roo's current contract finishes at the end of next season and United indicated six months ago they were keen to fast-track him to a long-term deal.
Yet there have been only two preliminary meetings and it is believed Rooney has asked for talks to be put on hold.
His advisors will look for a hefty pay rise to take him from £90,000 a week to around £150,000.
But Real Madrid want to sign him and can top any United offer while Spanish tax laws are also more favourable to high earners.
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...ld-Exclusive-article602579.html#ixzz12bqSoZ13Wayne Rooney will quit Manchester United following a series of explosive rows with manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Talks over a new contract that would keep Rooney at Old Trafford for the peak years of his career have broken down - paving the way for the 24-year-old England international to leave United in the January transfer window.
The warring duo have barely spoken since Rooney returned from England duty last week.
Club insiders accept that Rooney's relationship with Ferguson is beyond repair after they clashed over recent revelations about the England international's sex shame and the subsequent decision to leave the striker out of United's team.
Chief executive David Gill is now ready to sanction the most sensational transfer in United's history.
Rooney's imminent exit will cause more waves than David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo's departures.
The bombshell news that Ferguson is preparing for life without his No 1 forward will spark a big-money fight for Rooney's services at home and abroad.
Barcelona and Real Madrid will offer him an escape route to the continent, while Chelsea and Manchester City will give Rooney the chance to wreak havoc on United in the Premier League.
Sunday Mirror Sport can reveal that a rift between the two biggest personalities at Old Trafford began to open in the aftermath of the revelations of Rooney cavorting with vice girls at the start of September.
The scandal rocked Rooney's marriage to childhood sweetheart Coleen and cost him a £7million sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola.
A furious Ferguson reacted by telling Rooney that his unacceptable behaviour had brought the world's most famous club into disrepute.
The backlash from Rooney came when he was left out of the squad for the trip to his former club Everton a week after the allegations broke.
Ferguson explained that he was protecting the striker from humiliation at the hands of fans who have never forgiven him for quitting Goodison in a £20million deal in 2004.
But behind the scenes, the United boss made it clear to Rooney that his decision was based on his personal disgust about the allegations and his belief that the striker's form would suffer.
Since then the bond between Ferguson and Rooney has been severed completely.
The United boss told Rooney that his star is beginning to fade because of off-field destractions.
His hardline stance continued when he hauled the striker off with United chasing the game at Bolton.
The United boss informed Rooney that he was set to give him a three-week break from the team and would use an ankle injury as a smokescreen.
When Ferguson asked Rooney to withdraw from the England squad for the Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro, the striker refused.
Ferguson felt humiliated when Rooney subsequently played 90 minutes for Fabio Capello before announcing that he had never been less than 100% fit.
That ended any hope that the two men could rescue a relationship that an Old Trafford insider said was once like "father and son."
A United insider added: "Rooney is one of the few players prepared to stand up to Ferguson in the United dressing room.
"There was always a lot of mutual respect between the pair, but that has disappeared in the last two months and it is clear that the animosity will never go away."
United fans will be outraged by Rooney's sale. They see him as their last remaining superstar following Cristiano Ronaldo's £80million departure to Real Madrid last year.
It will also crank up the pressure on the Glazer family that own the club.
United, who announced a profit of £40million following Ronaldo's exit, lost £83.4million last year despite posting operating profits of more than £100million.
With total debts now spiralling towards £800million, the Florida-based Glazers accept that they must cash in on Rooney now.
Rooney wanted United to double his current £100,000-a-week basic salary before the row with Ferguson blew up.
Rooney has always indicated that he is not attracted by a move abroad and has also said that a London lifestyle does not appeal because he likes being close to his Liverpool roots.
That would appear to put cash-rich City in pole position to strike another devastating blow on their bitter rivals.
Owner Sheikh Mansour is desperate to sign another stellar name following Robinho's failure to make an impact at Eastlands - and Rooney fits the bill.
Rooney was impressed by the hero's welcome given to Carlos Tevez 18 months ago when he quit United to join the City revolution.
A Rooney move to City would be the ultimate act of revenge on Ferguson.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/oct/17/wayne-rooney-manchester-unitedWayne Rooney has thrown Manchester United's season into a state of turmoil after informing the club he has no plans to sign another contract and intends to find new employers. Rooney's decision is based on serious differences with Sir Alex Ferguson, the Guardian understands, and will be a devastating blow to the supporters who have come to regard him as a talismanic figure in this troubled era under Malcolm Glazer's ownership.
United may have no option now but to sell the England striker, possibly in the January transfer window, rather than risk his transfer valuation dramatically lowering now that he is only 20 months away from becoming a free agent.
Rooney has always said he has no desire to play abroad and would like to remain in Manchester for the rest of his career, but his mindset has changed and his availability will inevitably attract interest from major forces such as Real Madrid and Barcelona. Manchester City may feel they have an outside chance of capitalising on what has gone wrong for him at Old Trafford, although their chances are undermined by the fact they already have a huge task ahead of them bringing down their wages to prevent Uefa banning them from European competitions under financial fair-play rules.
The full details are not yet clear but the underlying fact is that Rooney now feels that his working relationship with Ferguson has suffered potentially irreparable damage in the fall-out from tabloid allegations about the striker's private life, coinciding with a dramatic loss of form and a growing sense that the most successful manager in the business has taken a hard-line approach with his player.
Rooney has lost his place in the team, with Ferguson citing a supposed ankle injury, and the 24-year-old felt sufficiently emboldened last week to contradict his manager's version of events and make it clear he has not missed a single training session – and was, in essence, dropped for other reasons.
What has not been established is whether these events have coincided with a disagreement about the amount of money he expected to earn in a new contract. United had been willing to make him the highest earner at the club, with a weekly salary of £150,000, and the club's chief executive, David Gill, had stated several times earlier in the year that the matter would be resolved as soon as Rooney was back from the World Cup.
That now appears to have backfired on Gill, with the message already conveyed to senior figures at Old Trafford that Rooney is now counting down his days at the club. There remains a suspicion it might be a part of the negotiating process, but the Guardian has been informed that, for now at least, Rooney's mind is made up and that he and his family are already contemplating where next to take his career.
If that remains the case, it threatens to be an even more devastating blow to the club than Cristiano Ronaldo's £80m transfer to Real Madrid last year given that it was widely known the Portuguese would eventually move to the Bernabéu. Rooney has always given the opposite impression, immersing himself in the fabric of the club, and now appears to be on the brink of being one of the few players to leave against their wishes.
Ferguson has moved on some great footballers, including Ruud van Nistelrooy and David Beckham, but always prides himself on players not being sold unless he says so; in this case it seems clear that the decision was made by Rooney first.
With United desperately trying to keep the matter in-house, Ferguson's views on the subject are not clear, other than he is known to be alarmed and angry about the headlines that Rooney has attracted because of his alleged relationship with a prostitute, Jennifer Thompson and mostly his faltering performances on the pitch. Some United fans will be angry that Rooney seems to have portrayed himself as the victim when it could be argued that he has brought these troubles on himself, but a rift has clearly developed between player and manager.
Rooney has been in the worst form of his professional life for the last seven months, without a goal in open play since the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich in March. Most worryingly, he is showing few signs of emerging from his current slump. Nonetheless, he remains a hero to the United support and was regarded as the player who would help to ensure continuity and success once Ferguson, plus the likes of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, had retired.
Interesting thoughts,agree with Spain to much baggage for Jose. Re City if they offer mega bucks the Glazers would probably overrule SAF and take the dosh, that could be a very interesting scenario.I wonder how highly Rooney would be rated in Madrid or Barcelona, I'd say not very at present.
If he has fallen out with Baconface he doesn't have many options as to where he could go. Perhaps Manu would take silly money from City given the climate.
They don't really have a choice, do they? He's got 18 months on his contract...the clock is ticking.
If he decides he wants to let his contract run-down there's nothing Man United can do to stop him going to wherever he wants.
Surely Keane instead of Pav? :lol:I say we offer them 2m plus Pav. Maybe they can have Ben Alnwick as well to replace Van der Saar.
Is how I first read is. I didn't even think it was an unreasonable comment...Stan Collymore is twatting this deal is in the offing. 500k a week, big story in The Times tomorrow that Rooney wants to go. I can't see it happening but he did say 'once a blue always a blue' so you never know.