As United play hardball over Rooney, should Chelsea seek an alternative?

Manchester United won’t be moved on the Wayne Rooney transfer saga and insist that he’s not for sale at any price, even if he goes public with his request to leave.

After two failed bids previously, could Chelsea’s chase for Rooney be coming to an end?

Those at the Guardian seem to think so as they report that the Glazer family will reject any bid for the forward and reveal that at no point during the summer has the club discussed a valuation for Rooney.

Jose Mourinho has also said that he will try to sign his target up until the last day and he’s not the sort of guy that would give up so easily, that’s not to say he will succeed. But many had thought that it was only a matter of time before the player handed in a transfer request and predicted that the Premier League champions would eventually give in.

There’s nothing to lose from Chelsea’s point of view except a large sum of cash should the transfer happen and prove unsuccessful, it’s more of a gamble on United’s part as they are determined to hold onto a player that has grown distant from the club as they want to put on a show of dominance.

In fairness they’d be rather daft to sell one of their big name players to the Blues as it would represent an early Mourinho victory over David Moyes and it makes sense for them to wanting to avoid their new manager being bullied under the pressure of his first big job, especially as he’s yet to win anything in his career and hasn’t managed to make a significant signing at Old Trafford so far.

Earlier in the summer the headlines read ‘Rooney or bust’ but should Chelsea’s chances of signing the 27-year-old be over, will they now seek an alternative?

There’s a fairly sizeable section of the Chelsea support that would be happy if we didn’t sign Rooney and I’d have reservations if we did as although he’s a top player, it feels a whole lot like our pursuit of Fernando Torres when he arrived for £50 million from Liverpool. The Spaniard struggled for form following the controversial move and may have even been crushed under the weight of his price-tag and media scrutiny.

Samuel Eto’o has been mooted as a potential alternative and he recently spoke of his admiration for Mourinho but even if Anzhi were selling him I’d be sure that he would want us more than Chelsea want him. He’s 32 now and on ridiculous wages, it’s a no-go from my point of view.

As I scrolled through my Twitter timeline moments ago I’ve seen a few people ponder over the possibility of Luis Suarez, who is currently a target of Arsenal’s even though they’ve no hope of signing him. The Uruguayan has really spat the dummy out and is already a hated figure at Stamford Bridge, but will people look past that with the promise of goals? Perhaps. Maybe not immediately, but I’d say Liverpool would prefer to sell him to a club that’s probably out of there reach than give Arsenal an advantage as they chase them for a top-four spot.

Anyway, I would like to know your thoughts. Should Chelsea give up on Rooney and do you even want him? If not, who would you rather as an alternative (if anyone)?

Source: Guardian