Manchester United may have managed to get into the Champions League next season but that has not made their transfer dealings any easy. They were looking at Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann as a possible addition to their squad this summer but the Frenchman has now decided to reject offers from England to stay in the Spanish capital for at least another year.
This has seen them turn their attention towards Belgian star Romelu Lukaku. The former Chelsea man has decided to quit his current club Everton in search of Champions League football and is wanted by Chelsea and Manchester United and reports today suggest that Mourinho is ready to offer club skipper Wayne Rooney as a part of the deal to land his striker target this summer.
The Toffees value their 24-year old goalscoring prodigy at an amazing £100m and are set to hold off at that fee. This has made it difficult for the Red Devils who also have other positions in the squad to shore up. But it is now understood that Rooney, who has little future under Jose Mourinho, is interested in a return to Everton and that the Red Devils are ready to offer him as a part of the deal for Lukaku.
Rooney’s sale is not expected to reduce Lukaku’s price by a long way but it is a deal that might tempt Everton to sell to the Manchester outfit irrespective of other offers.
The England and Manchester United skipper Rooney is still one of the most exciting attackers in the league at the moment but he has not been able to show consistency and has fallen down the pecking order at the club.
He recently became the top goalscorer in the club’s history and has eight goals and 10 assists in all competitions. He is still 31 and easily has a couple of years of top flight football left in him and Everton will surely profit from his addition.
Lukaku is a huge loss and Koeman will have to spend big to find an able replacement. But having Rooney will smoothen the transition. He can act as the talisman for the club the next season, and maybe for another one, and this will give Everton enough time to find the right man to lead the attack of the side for years to come.
Moving back to his boyhood club will be a dream for Rooney but he might have to cut down on his wages to make sure that Everton can afford him. But if his future at Old Trafford is up, Goodison Park is probably the best place to regain his lost image.
