According to former FIFA agent Vincenzo Morabito, Manchester United midfielder, Wayne Rooney was offered by the club to Italian side Napoli in the summer after falling out of favour early on with manager Jose Mourinho.
Things have not been particularly good for the 31-year-old England international ever since the Portuguese manager arrived at Old Trafford in the summer. Rooney’s form has been in the worst form of his career having scored only three goals in 25 appearances for the Red Devils this season. Vincenzo Morabito has now come out and said that the 31-year-old was almost shipped off to Italy just before the end of the transfer window in August.
“I know for a fact that he was offered to Napoli as he can't go to other English clubs, which could lead him to Spain and Italy,” Morabito told Italian radio station CRC.
“He was, I repeat, offered to Napoli. While the idea is beautiful, when you look at his €10 million (£8.3m) - a year salary, it isn't realistic.”
However, Morabito insists that Wayne Rooney does not have a future at Manchester United and that his issues with Jose Mourinho are not helping get a place in the team.
“He certainly doesn't have a good relationship with Mourinho, and therefore his future is far from United, even on loan, to give them more room,” he added.
Although not many will agree with Morabito’s statement, it will be interesting to see where and what Wayne Rooney’s plans are for the future. Rooney is just two goals shy of breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 249 goals for Manchester United and was included in the starting XI in the game against Crystal Palace on Wednesday which was also his first League start since early November.
The Manchester United captain is currently battling for a place in Mourinho’s starting XI with tough competition from the likes Juan Mata, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
As the Red Devils prepare for their trip to the Hawthorns on Saturday, Rooney will be hoping to be a part of the first team and make some sort of contribution to the team. But if Morabito’s comments are to be true, then Mourinho is just using him as a showpiece to get a sweeter deal in the upcoming transfer window. As far as United fans are concerned, they will be hoping that Rooney starts in the game against the Baggies and break the record set by Sir, Bobby Charlton on Saturday.
