20 Oct 2010

Rooney wants out of Manchester United

9:19 am on 20 October 2010

Manchester United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed Wayne Rooney wants to leave the English Premier League football giants.

Sir Alex delivered the bombshell in an unusually emotive turn at a news conference ahead of the Champions League match against the Turkish side Bursaspor.

Rooney will miss that game with the ankle injury that's been at the centre of much of the newspaper furore, after he was taken off the field on a stretcher towards the end of training.

Ferguson expressed his "shock and disappointment" at the player's stance after the two met to discuss the unsettled 24-year-old's future at the Red Devils.

Speculation about Rooney's future has raged for days after Ferguson dropped the England international for last Sunday's Premier League clash with West Bromwich Albion.

That decision followed Rooney's public contradiction of Ferguson's claims that he was injured, telling reporters he was fully fit.

Rooney was also dropped for his return to Everton last month, following tabloid revelations about his private life and he's been in and out of the United starting line-up since, looking a shadow of the player who was named Footballer of the Year last season.

But Ferguson indicated the club hasn't given up on keeping Rooney, who signed with them as a teenager.

Despite having 18 months to run on his contract and in discussions about a new deal which Sir Alex insists was as good as he would get anywhere, the Scottish manager appears stunned by Rooney's frame of mind.

But while he's still hopeful that Rooney will stay, the news is likely to spark a scramble during the January transfer window.

There's been speculation that he'll be sold in the January transfer window, with Real Madrid interested in buying him.

Everton stands to scoop a small fortune if Rooney does leave United - they'll get 25 percent of any excess sum over the 27 million pounds United eventually paid for the striker.

Rooney has scored only one goal in five Premier League appearances for United this season.