Football Special Report: Are the winds changing in Manchester?
They say that nothing lasts forever and that everything has to come to an end. Great empires are built and then burnt to dust. The whole ‘Wayne Rooney wants out’ saga is one of those things that can be considered warning signs indicating the fall of Manchester
United as a great force to be reckoned with. For three days, the red side of Manchester was faced embroiled in another famous Fergie-bust up involving striker Wayne Rooney.
The striker had been in and out of the side for some time now and was clearly frustrated by the lack of game time. He didn’t have a great World cup in South Africa and he still hasn’t been the Wayne who took the premier league by storm last season.
Sir Alex kept insisting that the reason Rooney sat out so many games was due to an ankle injury, a claim that Rooney denied. 2 days back, Sir Alex confirmed the dreaded news of Rooney’s desire to leave the club and only last night Rooney confirmed the news.
The England international cited his concern over United’s ability to attract the best players in the world. He also confirmed that he held several meetings with the united officials during which he never received the answers he wanted regarding the future
of the club.
‘I met with David Gill last week and he did not give me any assurances regarding the future of the squad,’ said Rooney. ‘I then told him that I would not be signing a new contract’.
This should not be coming as a surprise to any of the Manchester united fans. The club has taken a step down in recent years. Ever since the hostile Glazer take- over, things have become shaky at Manchester united. When the Glazers took-over, they promised
that funds would be given to take the club to a whole new level. But what level were they talking about? Apart from signing Berbatov from Tottenham, Manchester united hasn’t been able to sign a key player for over 2 seasons now. Anyone looking at the state
of the team can tell that the club needs a major revamp in mid-field and defence. Sir Alex spent over two decades to make this club a huge empire and within 4 years, the Glazer family slowly started ruining all the hard work done.
The debts have amounted to $ 700 million as the club was bought by the Americans on loan. The Glazers have till now resisted all efforts of a takeover. Few months ago, a group of fans named the Red-Knights started their campaign to finally rid the Manchester
outfit of the Glazers rule by submitting a bid of £1billion but saw the bid rejected. Somehow, the Glazers have rebuffed any attempts to sell the outfit.
The whole Rooney saga seems to be a trend that would continue to happen as long as the club is unable to sign big names. Signings like Michael Owen who’s a shadow of his former self on a free transfer no longer can be called a coup, as he hasn’t been in
the teams’ plans ever since he joined them last year
In today’s market, a club that cannot keep hold of its star players can’t aspire to be a champion both domestically and in Europe. Money has become an essential tool for success recently and the reason for many teams to get some silverware every season.
This trend isn’t going to stop in the near future, so Manchester united has to accept the circumstances and let the money do the talking for some time.
Wayne Rooney won’t be the only player who would want out eventually. As soon as players like Nani, Macheda, Hernandez or Anderson become really big players and don’t see any big signing every now and then they are bound to question the ambitions of the club.
Big players would always have the extra desire to win trophies and personal awards once they get a taste of the glory. If they don’t see it happening with their current clubs, they would want to go to a club that can match their ambitions and there are a lot
of other clubs out there who would love to have their services, point is they know it!
Therefore, it’s time for Manchester United to tinker their transfer policy and start making some serious noise out there in the transfer market before they fade away. Right now, all roads lead to demise graver than the likes of Liverpool, their arch rivals.
The winds are changing and the red devils have to adapt to the market to match the ambitions of their players and fans.
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