English Premiership
Rooney not for sale: Charlton
2013-03-12 13:03
London - Manchester United great Bobby Charlton has dismissed concerns about the future of striker Wayne Rooney by declaring there is "no way he will ever be allowed to move on".
Rooney was dropped from the United starting XI for last week's Champions League loss to Real Madrid, which sparked media speculation about his future at Old Trafford.
However, manager Alex Ferguson stated he had no interest in letting Rooney leave, and subsequently named the 27-year-old in his team for Sunday's 2-2 draw with Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
And Charlton says he cannot foresee Rooney leaving the club.
"I don't worry about Wayne Rooney," Charlton said. "There is no way he will ever be allowed to move on, because that is not the way Sir Alex Ferguson works.
"Wayne has been our regular goalscorer, and he scores fantastic goals. If he scores a great goal, he'll think, 'Right, I'll get another one'. Not only that, he has an influence on the rest of the team.
"Just because he has some competition, I don't think that is a problem."
British media reports in recent weeks have suggested that United could be tempted to make a shock move to bring former star Cristiano Ronaldo back to the club from Real Madrid.
The 28-year-old received a rapturous reception on his return to Old Trafford last Tuesday but Charlton said there was no substance to the speculation that United were interesting in re-signing him.
"Signing Ronaldo has never even been mentioned in any of our board meetings," said Charlton, who made 758 appearances for United and remains the club's leading goal-scorer.
"But he did go beyond being just a great player for us. He was just the right sort of person Manchester United had been looking for.
"But I once saw Real Madrid trying to get a player from another club and I didn't think very highly of it. I didn't think it was right then and I still don't now.
"Cristiano is a great player, who scores phenomenal goals and he loves the club but he is not our player."