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It seems that the Chinese Super league will stop at nothing and their next target is to bring one of the most established European stars to their shores.

United skipper Rooney wanted by Shanghai to become the face of Chinese league.

Shanghai Shenhua, who have earlier signed big name stars like Didier Drogba and Anelka, are very much interested in signing Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney. Rooney has not been at his best in this season but is certainly the one of the most marketable stars in the Premier league having played for the Red Devils for over a decade.

It has been reported that the Chinese club have submitted a bid of around £27 million to Manchester United for their captain as well give him a £500,000 per week contract.

The money on offer is certainly too good to refuse for the United captain but the offer given shows the amount of interest that Shanghai Shenhua have shown towards the England International.

Rooney is a bit wary about taking the offer since he would have to relocate his family as well. But the 30 year old, who is currently having two years on his contract, may find it difficult to refuse such a massive offer.

The Chinese Super league club wants Rooney to be the poster boy for their competition which only started in the year 2004.

Wayne Rooney has scored only once in the Premier League so far this season but his manager is not concerned with his scoring record.

Wayne Rooney

Rooney has played well for England this season and recently broke Sir Bobby Charlton's scoring record for the national team but he has not yet performed at that level for his club this season. He got a couple of goals in the Champions League but his performances in the league have been dismal.



Rooney had backed himself to score 30 goals for the club this season but so far it looks unlikely that he will even reach double figures. Anthony Martial is now United's first choice striker and with Rooney dropping further behind, he is finding it harder to get on the scoresheet.

But Van Gaal seems to be content with his captain's performances. Van Gaal said that he doesn't care who scores as long as his team is getting goals and said that Rooney's form in front of goal is not bothering him.

He also said that Rooney is an influential character, and that he will remain in the starting eleven due to his leadership qualities.

Rooney likes to drop deep to pick up balls and it seems that he is better off being played in a no 10 role. Van Gaal also praised Rooney's versatility and said that Rooney's overall contribution to the team is more important than his scoring record.

Manchester United will welcome Wayne Rooney back to their line up for their trip to St Mary's. Rooney missed United's last two games through hamstring injury.

Wayne Rooney

United will be without Luke Shaw as the defender suffered a major injury in their mid week Champions League clash against PSV. The defender suffered a second operation on his leg on Friday and is reportedly out for upto six months. In the light of this development, the return of Wayne Rooney will be welcome news for the fans.

Fellaini and Martial deputized for Rooney in his absence and although Martial scored a goal against Liverpool, both of them weren't quite at that level and United missed Rooney's presence and work rate upfront. Rooney has not scored in his last eleven Premier league appearances and is without an away goal for the club in nine months.

But despite that, Louis Van Gaal seems to keep faith in the United skipper and he is expected to slot straight back in to the starting line up once he returns. Even when he doesn't score, the work he does for the team is incredible and can't be forgotten.

Defender Phil Jones has also reported back to train but he is not match fit yet and will not start on Sunday. But with Luke Shaw out injured, Van Gaal could move Daley Blind to the left back spot and pair Jones with Smalling once he is back fully fit.

Luke Shaw was playing superbly and United's centre-back pairing of Blind and Smalling also was looking real good but the injury to Shaw will disrupt the confidence of their back line now.

Wayne Rooney

Despite being Manchester United's third highest goalscorer of all-time and only being 7 international goals off the England record, there has always been doubts (and probably always will be) over whether Wayne Rooney is 'all that'. This may seem absurd, but it is a fair point given both his recent poor performances that have been masked by the odd goal, and the sheer brilliance he showed as a youngster. The fact remains, however, he has been prolific at club and international level, boasting a better than 1 in 2 record at Manchester United.

Let's start by discussing why Rooney may be considered world class. A superb record that displays his goalscoring prowess says a lot, but there's more to Rooney than that. He also boasts a superb assist record, hitting double figures for assists and goals in his last 5 seasons. He's a leader, one who at his best can grab games by the scruff of the neck and win them single-handedly. Not only is he a great scorer of goals, he's a scorer of great goals - think the overhead kick against Man City, the volley against Newcastle and even the free-kick against Arsenal at the age of 16. Even when Man United have struggled, like last year, Rooney's performances were a shining example. On-form, Rooney is a scary player to face, with pace, which is often very understated, power and impeccable technique. He may not be the exciting, raw 18 year old that he once was, but he's still a frightening player.

What I think is the problem with Rooney is that he was so good at such a young age, that because he's not Cristiano Ronaldo people think he's not very good. We play down his talents and feats because he hasn't progressed as much as we thought he might. You could argue that he peaked early - especially at international level, where he was absolutely scintillating at Euro 2004, but a damp squib at the recent World Cup. So what went wrong?

Rooney is plagued with inconsistency and cursed with being English. Inconsistency is understandable at a young age, so people didn't mention it so much, but at 28 those problems should have long gone. Quite why he cannot hit a consistent run for an extended period we may never know, but Rooney can be quiet for long periods of games or even seasons, but he will always score goals and make chances. That's what sets Rooney apart; against Estonia he was poor, the public opinion of him at an all-time low and a lot of pressure on his shoulders, yet he still scored the winner. Good players have bad games, great players have bad games, but great players will still contribute.


Being English and only playing in England may have hurt Rooney's career. Whilst he is a very physical player, he is extremely technically gifted, but maybe lacks the footballing intelligence to fully utilise his talent. In England, physicality is so important that we maybe don't look at the finer details. Had Rooney moved abroad, to Real or Barcelona at the age of 23/24, he may have become the player we all hoped he would. The European focus on intelligence, positioning and ball retention is extremely close and this would have helped Rooney massively. As it is, his awareness and movement have limited him a little bit, I feel.

Look at the successful English teams - all of them have players that have played large portions of their career abroad. Chelsea will walk this year's Premier League, as has been clear since the summer, and their team consists of 2 players who have played in England their whole life - Terry and Cahill. A spell abroad may have sanded off Rooney's rough edges and made him the complete forward.

Wayne Rooney is an enigma - on one hand, he is statistically brilliant, obviously talented and an icon, but on the other, he is inconsistent and when he should be at his peak, he appears to be dropping off, a worrying trend that he will no doubt stop now I've written this. Will he go down as a great? Maybe for Man United, but I'm not sure he will be remembered as fondly in the eyes of the England fans.

Article contributed by:  Elliott Griffiths

Blog: Just Like Watching Brazil

Twitter: @ElliottBCFC

After Manchester United were beaten 5-3 by Leicester City despite leading 2-0 and 3-1, we believed that anything could happen with this club.
This time, United faced West Ham at Old Trafford and with nine players injured, Louis Van Gaal made a risk and gave three players their debuts, two coming from the youth academy.
Luke Shaw, Paddy Mcnair and Tom Thorpe had a chance to prove that they were the solution to the club's weak defending since the past year.
Just 5 minutes after kick off, the Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney proved his quality to all those who doubted him and scored a magnificent one touch goal from a cross by the Brazilian right back Rafael.
Less than a minute later, West Ham forward Enner Valencia exposed United's backline and got a one on one chance with the keeper but showed the difference between him and Rooney. He shot over the post because of lack of composure and steadiness.
The second goal came in the 22nd minute when Radamel Falcao made a stupendous through pass to Robin Van Persie who nutmegged the West Ham defenders before making it 2-0 for United.
West ham got a ray of hope when a Steward Downing corner was handled sloppily by David De Gea and Sakho got an open goal to head the ball in.
The second half started slowly with less chances created from either side. The Reds were reduced to 10 men just before the hour mark when Wayne Rooney was sent off for hitting Downing on his leg rather then the ball.
The Hammers gained a lot of momentum as they were one man up and that was when the United defence was tested to the core. Mcnair made some beautiful headers to clear the ball and Marcos Rojo was also solid in his position.
It was in the last five minutes that West Ham almost levelled up but the official made a right offside decision to deny the Hammers a goal.
The match ended 2-1 in United's favour and captain Wayne Rooney will be missing the next match against his former club Everton due to suspension.

For a long time, Manchester United fans have been crying out for an overhaul in the transfer window. Although it never happened under Fergie, our wishes have been fulfilled in this window, with Louis van Gaal recruiting 6 new faces, 2 of which can be considered to be among the best players in the world. And although I am overjoyed by our transfer activity, the joy might not last because the high profile entries will most probably end up causing a couple of high profile departures. Do High Profile Entries Also Mean High Profile Exits?

United have bolstered their squad with world class players like Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao

United have bolstered their squad with world class players like Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao
With the amount of the attacking options we have right now, it wouldn't surprise me to see a couple of familiar faces leave. Due to the arrival of Radamel Falcao, we now have 3 world class strikers all fighting for a place in the starting line-up, meaning one will be left out on the bench.

Similarly, the number 10 role also has a couple of suitors at the moment. There have been theories saying that di Maria will take that role when Ander Herrera is back and available, whilst others have been saying Wayne Rooney will occupy that space.

No matter which way we look at it, the amount of attacking options we have is just ridiculous. In a sense, this is a good thing, because we now have the best attacking line-up in the league (on paper). The competition for places, however, could signal the ends of some Old Trafford careers, though.