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| ARE YOU A PEA? ... Wayne Rooney discusses life on the bench with Javier Hernandez |
Moyes’ predecessor Alex Ferguson left his post last season claiming Rooney wanted out of the club.
The player disputes that. But, for the new boss, actions will speak louder than words as United head off next Wednesday for a tour that takes in Bangkok, Sydney, Tokyo, Osaka and Hong Kong.
Neither the club nor Rooney’s camp wanted to say
anything publicly about the situation yesterday.
The player was tight-lipped even with team-mates as a number turned up at United’s Carrington training complex to have their post-holiday weigh-ins.
Today sees Moyes take charge of his first training session, then tomorrow the Scot will hold his debut press conference as United boss.
Rooney’s camp will be watching closely.
They do not want to put in any formal transfer request themselves.
But they do want to see a commitment that Rooney is a major part of Moyes’ plans. The 27-year-old certainly was not a major part of Fergie’s towards the end of last season.
Ferguson was happily away from all the controversy surrounding Rooney yesterday as he watched fellow Scot Andy Murray at Wimbledon.
The former boss set the cat among the pigeons following his final home game as manager at the end of last season. That is when he claimed Rooney had been dropped because he had asked to quit the club.
Rooney was still reeling from being left out of the starting line-up for the home Champions League clash with Real Madrid in March.
That and a frustration at being played in different positions led to Rooney confronting Fergie in the days after United had clinched a 20th title with a home win over Aston Villa.
The striker has been left to simmer all summer with a large section of the United faithful having now turned against him.
They forgave him after he tried to leave back in October 2010. But for many this latest business was too much.
A SunSport Twitter debate on the subject yesterday saw the majority of fans who took part happy to see Rooney go.
Yesterday, Rooney looked grim-faced as he turned up at Carrington for the first time since last season.
Sporting a baseball cap, Rooney arrived at 9.30am, two hours after Moyes.
Rooney was gone three hours later after joining the vast majority of the squad for their post-holiday weight checks.
Each player then met individually with Moyes, his assistant Steve Round and coach Jimmy Lumsden.
It appears not to have been the career-defining meeting that was expected for Rooney.While there might be apathy over Roo’s future with United fans, they would love one of their former heroes back.
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