Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has agreed a new five-and-a-half-year contract worth up to £300,000 a week, keeping him at Old Trafford until June 2019.
With 18 months left on his previous deal, some of Europe’s top clubs began to take an interest in the England striker, but on Friday night he committed his future to United.
After so much talk about the striker leaving Old Trafford, United boss David Moyes was ecstatic to keep hold of his star man.
“I am thrilled that we have got Wayne Rooney to stay,” the United manager said. “He has been fantastic. Everyone would want him in their team.
“There were clubs who did want him. There were clubs who would have wanted him (had he not signed a new deal) but there was never going to be a chance he was going to leave Manchester United, certainly not on my watch.”
I don’t think you can understate the importance of this signing by United. A lot will be made over who much money the deal is worth but it is worth it to United. It shows that even without Champions League football and the troubles that David Moyes has had in his first season at Old Trafford that a superstar Wayne Rooney believes enough in the future of United to stay. You cannot out a value on that if you are Manchester United.
For all those ABU fans out there thinking that United would not be an attractive destination for the world’s best without Champions League football, keep in mind that United have now signed Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney with both players knowing they will not be in the Champions League next season.
The Rooney and Mata signings will also help Moyes attract other players in the summer as he can point to Rooney’s new deal as a sign that the club is determined to get back to challenging for trophies.
