Second Rooney bid rejected, but how far should Chelsea go?

Manchester United rejected a second bid for Wayne Rooney today according to a variety of media sources, including Sky Sports and the BBC.

There seems to be some confusion over how much the bid was worth as Sky said it was around £30 million, whereas those at the BBC reported it to be £25 million plus add-ons.

The England forward has been subject to intense speculation this summer and although Manchester United maintain there stance that the player is ‘not for sale’ the press believe there’s something in this and the Blues wouldn’t be bidding for the player if they thought there was no chance of signing him.

Rooney is said to be angry over claims that have been made about him from former manager Sir Alex Ferguson when he said the player had handed in a transfer request at the end of last season. It’s also thought that he wants to play in his preferred position and is unlikely to with Robin van Persie at Old Trafford. The Dutchman is David Moyes’ preferred choice even though the Scot stressed that Rooney remains an important player to the club.

The 27-year-old has not featured much for the Red Devils this pre-season as he suffered an injury during their Asia tour and isn’t part of the squad to play AIK Stockholm in Sweden due to a shoulder problem, says Moyes.

At this stage the player will probably have to make an official transfer request in order to force a move and waive his right to loyalty bonuses. There’s been a PR battle between the two clubs and Rooney’s representatives as with all sorts of conflicting rumours out there but United will have learned at this stage that fans are angry, so may back a sale.

This could go down to the wire, but how much is too much for Rooney? He’s not exactly been at the top of his game and some of his poor lifestyle choices have been well documented. We already know that he would command a big wage and even those that are in favour of signing him do not believe he’d be worth much more than £30 million. We don’t want another Fernando Torres situation on our hand and Chelsea should only commit to this if they’re absolutely certain.

Source: BBC Sport