Manchester United Wayne Rooney out for a month

Posted on July 14, 2013 by SoccerPunter

Wayne Rooney has been hogging the headlines recently, with intense speculation on his future in Manchester United.

There have been transfer rumours that France Ligue 1 Champions PSG and English Premier League club rivals Chelsea are determined to sign him.

However, this time he has suffered a hamstring injury that will keep him on the sidelines for up to one month.

Wayne Rooney sustained the injury during a training session buildup for the Asia tour, he has since returned to England for rehabilitation.

The Manchester United talisman remains doubtful for England Community Shield against Wigan at Wembley on August 11.

Following that, they will travel to Swansea City for English Premier League opener on August 17.

In between those two fixtures, England manager Roy Hodgson would have hoped to have Wayne Rooney available for an international friendly match against Scotland on August 14.

Rooney’s injury setback comes just a day after new United manager David Moyes revealed club staff had told him the forward had returned for pre-season training in his best shape for years.

His absence is the first significant setback for Moyes and comes just hours after the champions landed in Bangkok on Thursday morning.

Moyes and his squad went straight to their hotel for a short rest ahead of what turned out to be Rooney’s single training session.

The United boss had hoped to use the tour to cement his relationship with Rooney, who worked with Moyes at Everton but has reportedly been considering making a formal transfer request following his spell out of favour during Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge at Old Trafford.

Moyes has made it clear that Rooney is not for sale but there has still been no word from the player about his intentions.

Chelsea, Arsenal and Paris Saint Germain are all said to be interested in Rooney, who has two years remaining on his £250,000-a-week contract and is at a point when negotiations over an extension would normally begin.

There is also the thorny issue of Ferguson’s declaration last season that Rooney had indeed demanded a transfer, something the player has privately denied.

Moyes is already without captain Nemanja Vidic, who was a surprise absentee from the United squad when they left England on Wednesday.

Vidic is battling to overcome a sciatica problem and Moyes is keen for the 31-year-old to rest the problem before deciding on whether to fly the centre-half out for subsequent fixtures in Australia, Japan and Hong Kong.

Those big-name absences have lent an air of chaos to United’s tour, with Moyes due to speak on Friday ahead of his side’s opening game against the Singha All Stars on Saturday.