Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney hasn’t started a league game for the Red Devils since his sides 3-1 loss to Watford a month ago.

Rooney’s poor start to the season has seen the internationalist banished to the bench as new United boss Jose Mourinho continues to search for his best starting eleven. His dip in form has also seen Wayne drop to the bench for England.

It looks as if the player has come to a crossroads in his career.

At thirty years of age (soon to be 31) it’s becoming extremely worrying for both his club and country that he no longer has the legs to fulfil a proper role for either side.

He no longer seems to have the cutting edge to continue to play as a main striker. Both United and England have players that can lead the line better and are currently more prolific in front of goal.

Rooney also looks lost as a number ten on the big stage. He often drops too deep and he often isn’t near enough to the main centre forward. At United when he plays as the ten, he often slows things down and stalls other attack-minded players like Juan Mata and Paul Pogba.

Playing deeper as a central midfielder isn’t really working for him at the moment either.

At Old Trafford they have an array of midfielders more suited to that position. For Wayne to make that transition takes time and United don’t really have that time on their side. It’s ok playing a few storming thirty-yard passes but more often than not you want your centre-mids to play the easy ball and keep possession. Rooney doesn’t keep the ball enough and he soon becomes a liability in a holding midfielder’s role. Plus let’s not forget that his tackling isn’t the greatest and he isn’t disciplined enough to always stick with his man.

So far in the League, Rooney has managed just one goal and two assists, that simply isn’t good enough. The fact that he has collected more yellow cards (3) than goals or assists is also quite telling.

The dilemma for United is what do they do with their club captain?

Do they wait and see if he can rediscover some form?

Well his form has been an issue for a while now. The striker hasn’t managed twenty or more goals in a Premier League campaign since 2012. Last term he only scored eight. He also hasn’t created ten or more assists in one league season since 2013-2014. Unfortunately the transition from an attacker to a midfielder might not happen for him at a big club like Man United.

The United board will be wondering how long they can justify paying him around £300k a week to sit on the bench or disappoint on the park.

Obviously they’ll respect his history with the side and his previous marketing revenue stream but let’s not forget that he’s put in for a transfer request on at least one occasion.

A major problem for both Wayne and United would be finding a suitor willing to make an offer that they both find attractive.

Maybe the ideal solution could lie in the Far East, China to be exact.

With the new year coming up, we’ll obviously see the opening of the winter transfer window.

Last January it was the Chinese clubs that took the market by storm as they spent big bringing in talent.

Ramires left Chelsea for Jiangsu Suning for a reported £25m, while Liverpool target Alex Teixeira joined the same Chinese Super League club for a €50m fee. Those kind of numbers appeal to European clubs especially when we are talking about costly players being past their peak.

Rooney’s agent would almost certainly have noticed that former Southampton hitman Graziano Pellè’s yearly wage grew to an eye-watering £13.5m when he joined Shandong Luneng.

Just think how much the Chinese moneymen would offer England’s captain to have him star for one of their clubs?

In China they have made it known that they want to attract world renowned players and not many are up there with Rooney in terms of publicity numbers. The owners and the country’s government want the Chinese Super League to be taken seriously and they see the influx of players from Europe’s top countries as a major part of their plan.

An ideal destination could be Shanghai SIPG with Rooney’s former England gaffer Sven-Göran Eriksson where he’d be paired with Brazilian forward Hulk.

In a developing league Wayne should become a star on the park again, as long as he took the task seriously.

It could be a good solution for all involved if Wayne Rooney can be persuaded to take an exciting Far Eastern adventure.

Posted on October 19th, 2016 by scott
Filed under: Article