Read Dominic Fifield’s reporting in the Guardian and it seems the biggest obstacle to Wayne Rooney’s Paris Saint-Germain move has traversed. The Parisians, perhaps remarkably, have agreed to match wages that are now being reported as $22.5 million per year. Few teams would dare match that sum, particularly for a player that’s not playing up to that salary. PSG, however, is willing to make the more.
For Rooney, however, there are other concerns - obstacles that hint at the precarious position in which he’s put himself. According to Fifield’s reporting, his wife Coleen, who recently gave birth to the couple’s second child, would prefer to stay in England, while Rooney’s concerned about the overall quality of Ligue 1. If only there was a hashtag for the type of problems that come with potential moves to Paris to play in one of the top five leagues in the world.
Each player has to do what’s best for him and his family, but given those quibbles, you wonder why Rooney doesn’t just try to make it work in Manchester. There’s no indication United’s treated him anything but spectacularly, placing him as the face of the club while making him an incredibly well-compensated man. They put up with his moodiness, his dips in form, and put him in a position to leverage the club’s unmatched band to boost his own profile. Is Rooney on nearly as many magazine covers if he’s playing elsewhere?
The main thing problem for Rooney seems to be his place in the team. He’s not happy he was dropped against Real Madrid. He’s not happy he has to battle for a spot. He’s not happy he’s been eclipsed in the team by Robin van Persie.
In short, he’s unwilling to live with the consequences of his form. He’s not somebody that deserves to have his name written in ink. He’s on a team with Shinji Kagawa, Danny Welbeck, and Javier Hernandez. That’s in addition to van Persie. To expect to have a spot carved for him would be the height of arrogance; an expectation that, if reports around United are to be believed, is not being matched by his dedication.
If Rooney truly believes he’s entitled to a starting spot, he really should move another team - a club so happy to have him that they’ll let his peccadilloes slide. And perhaps that’s why Alex Ferguson was willing to let him go. When a man comes to you and says he’s unwilling to fight for his spot -- that he thinks he’s owed a place in the team -- the decision becomes too easy. No wonder Rooney’s nine-year career at United may be over.
That, of course, was probably not the exact tenure of the conversation, but it is implication. Rooney feels he’s owed a place. Now David Moyes gets to make the final decision, and if he wants to move on, at least the new United boss knows Paris Saint-Germain will bail them out.
