Why didnt they sell him in September then and why did they offer him a new contract in the first place if that was the case.

Not ignoring their horrendous financial state but hard to ignore that.

There's a rumour out we're going back in for Torres again and upping our bid. That would be good then, just as two world class prolific goalscorers come to the end of their careers (Drogba and Anelka) we replace them with a sulky Spaniard who can't score in a brothel at the moment and a great player who has incorrectly been elevated to 'world class' status on the strength of one good season. Whoopee 

I am going to support Aylesbury United from now onwards.

I'd be very surprised if he goes to City.

I honestly believe that Manchester United would rather sell him for £20 less to a spanish side than to one of their major Premier League rivals. Plus I reckon him and Coleen would be looking for a fresh start, by fresh start I mean different country, not different part of the city!
Personally I think he'd fit in brilliantly at Barca. He could play right down the middle with Villa on the left and Messi on the right. He'd fill his boots every week with the chances they'd carve out for him.
If I was to put money on it.... i'd say Real Madrid and I think Karim Benzema would play a part in any deal between the 2 clubs.

Been reading redcafe and it is carnage. 'Badge kissing tw*t', 'can never trust scousers', 'the c***, at least Ronaldo was honest about his intentions' among many other tributes paid to him.

Only those City fans who are in block 110 could come up with this


The fergie empires crumbling and rooney wants to go
He said he wants man city
But bobby told him no, fook off back to everton
Or film another shrek, if I see you in a city shirt i'll break your ------- neck.
So go out banging prostitutes, or back to robbing cars, but if you think your going eastlands you can kiss my fookin arse.

If he wants to go to City, he'll go to City.

Ferguson knew exactly what he was doing letting the fans know what had gone on after Rooney in his wisdom decided to try and be clever and say he wasnt injured.  I cant blame them.

I honestly don't think he will want to go to City, but I could be wrong.

You said Rooney and wisdom in the same sentence 

He might not.  But if he wants to go there he will.  Man U have virtually no power here.

Guess who was on SSN putting his name forward for the Boro job...

How do you know? There must be something in his contract that protects Man U from players refusing to go to clubs that make offers considered to be within reason for both club and player? I'm not saying you're wrong, it just seems odd that he could refuse to go to any club but them if Man U put him up for sale in January and he opts to just run his contract out and go on a free.

I don't think how that's how these contracts work.  Man U cannot force him to go anywhere.  If he doesn't get the move he wants and is prepared to sit tight he can just run his contract down and somehow it doesn't seem terribly likely the Glazers will want that.  I could be wrong though.

That's quite disgraceful if true. It's similar to what happened to us with Joe Cole except nobody actually wanted him unless they got him for free. Also, Joe Cole never said he wanted out, his contract just ran out because nobody came in to buy him, I can't see that being the case with Rooney. Interesting, but bizarre scenario.

Think something similar happened with Lescott wanting to move to us... and Mascherano wanting the move to Barcelona. If the player is that desperate to move to a certain club then he can be a real problem. I recon Rooney would accept a move to anywhere tbh though.

Like when Heinze was desperate for a move to Liverpool. Ended up selling him to Real Madrid for less than what Liverpool were prepared to pay if I remember rightly.

Bloody Crystal bleedin' Palace - always lose against them!

The Lescott situation is very similar yes. The logic seemed to be they didn't want to keep an 'unhappy' player so they just let him go. Unhappy my arse. The only thing he was unhappy about was despite being a multi millionaire several times over it wasn't enough and he wanted more. I would have let the little scumbag rot in the reserves.

Rooney's contract runs out in 2012 though that's a long time to hang around waiting to go on a free. I still think Rooney's side of the story needs to be heard before anyone tries to hang him though.

Is it though?  Look at it from the other side of the equation - ie the players.  Man U get an offer for one of their players from Madrid and they think, "Yup, this is good business".  Accept it, call the player in, "You're off to Spain,  son".  "But I don't want to go to Spain". "Tough, you're going, here's a Spanish phrase book.  Taraa!"  "But me family's here, I don't want to move".  "Bugger off, we can send you where we want if the cash is right,  See ya!"

Don't sound to clever to me.

Ask David Beckham and Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

No, it doesn't, but it hardly seems fair on the club either if their star player insists on going only to their main rivals. We don't know that's true yet of course. We don't know anything at all really till Rooney opens his gob and gives his reasons.

TBF, that was a difference of a million and a half or summat.  That much I guess they were prepared to swallow.

Neither had to move though.  They chose it rather than sit about doing eff all.

I just realised Rooney opening his gob and giving his reasons won't help without an interpreter.

Unless FIFA have changed the rules again without me noticing, Rooney can buy out his contract and leave for nothing if he signed it three or more years ago...

Obviously he joined in 2004, but he must have signed a contract extension at some point, so it would count from the date he signed that extension.

I've heard that a few times today. What does that actually entail? Does he just pay them what they would have paid him in wages for the remainder of his contract? How are Man U covered for the loss of what they could perceivably gain if they sold him? (assuming they're covered at all).

That don't sound right.

How come you here of players having 100 million (etc) buy out clauses inserted in their contracts then?

* edit - am guessing your buy out, Disley is not simply paying up wages due but also including loss of asset payment.  If that's what ya meant. 

Hmmm, goal.com (however they are) say there are no buy out clauses in England. 

Our resident expert has buggered off so I shall speculate. City offer Rooney's agent an offer he can't refuse, except the transfer window's closed. So, January. Who is more retarded, Rooney, or his agent, deciding to kick it all off knowing nothing can happen till January anyway?

Nah, it can't be City and money that has kicked this all off. Little Wayne is very unhappy with Old Rednose is my guess and he's not very bright so he's decided to create a frankly ridiculous situation instead of waiting to make his move.

Interesting. That could be a new ruling since I looked into it a couple of years back when the tabloids were claiming Ali Al-Habsi was going to imminently buy out his contract at Bolton (turns out they were totally wrong, as he was still inside his 'protected period' of three years).

I dug around the FIFA website at the time and found all the stipulations involved. From memory (so some of this could be a little off), Rooney would have to be past the three year mark since his last contract extension in order to effectively cancel his contract without any kind of disciplinary action. If he's inside that three year period then he could be banned from playing for a few months if he attempted to do it. The compensation owed to Man Utd would be determined by a FIFA tribunal and it would take into account the time remaining on the contract.

Rooney has made a statement... basically confirming that United don't have a pot to piss in and they can't attract world-class players anymore.

You mean they won't meet his pay demands?

Rooney says that he wants to leave because Man Utd are not going to win anything in the coming years. He's cleverer than I thought.


Also, Manutd think they can buy torres off us -------------- No Chance In Hell.

"I met with David Gill last week and he did not give me any of the assurances I was seeking about the future squad,"

Can't afford to bring in world-class players... of course you could object to this statement below.

"For me its all about winning trophies"

Then why move? United are still winning silverware.

Both of them are playing shite at the moment anyway.

exactly....what's he got left to win?

The World Cup? DOH Wayne you simpleton!

Torres is only playing shite because he is getting no service whatsoever and has a slight injury. Once we get a new manager in, I have no doubts that Torres will start firing again, by which money bags Man City will start becoming interested in him again.

It seems to me that Torres hasn't recovered fully. Likewise I'm not sure whether Rooney has fully recovered from the injury he picked up against the cheating Bavarians.

I thought Spurs would lose tonight, but not this bad. 3-0 in 13 minutes, down to 10 men. This could end up 7, 8, 9 the way it's going.

Typical genius Harry though, effectively 2-0 down, what does he do? bring off his most creative player for Cudicini. Why not sacrifice Jenas or Huddlestone who are both pretty useless anyhow and at least keep someone who can actually do something individually?

I thought the sarcasm was evident