Manchester United are set to offer Wayne Rooney a new four-year contract this summer, Goal can reveal.
The England star has just two years left on his existing £250,000-a-week deal and has seen his Old Trafford future called into question, with relations with Sir Alex Ferguson privately strained at times this season.
However, while Sir Alex continues to privately hold concerns about the frontman’s conditioning, United executives are wary of allowing the forward to run down his contract as his transfer value would nosedive.
Goal revealed in March that Rooney and his manager were butting heads over his future but the Premier League champions are now readying a financial package to offer the forward.
United are unlikely to meet Rooney’s existing salary, negotiated after he threatened to quit for rivals Manchester City in 2010, preferring instead to present a more incentivised contract alongside a lower basic wage.
The player is desperate to remain at the club despite rumours of interest from Paris Saint-Germain but his agent, Paul Stretford, is expected to once again play hardball with the Red Devils over his salary demands.
As revealed in March, the England striker admitted concerns to his international colleagues about being shipped out of Manchester this summer – despite his desperation to remain in the north west, where he is settled with his family.
Sports merchandising giant Nike, which manufactures United’s kit and is also Rooney’s boot sponsor, is also believed to have been key to the club’s willingness to discuss a new contract, expressing its desire for the forward to remain at the Premier League champions during recent meetings to discuss the renewal of its partnership with the club.
While Sir Alex has publicly declared that Rooney will not be sold, privately he has been planning for his potential departure, with Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski lined up as his first-choice replacement.
Rooney, who would command a transfer fee in the region of €36 million, has scored 16 goals in all competitions for United this season and provided 15 assists.
Source: Goal.com
