Punters backing Rooney for summer Real Madrid move
Published:The whirlwind of speculation over the future of unsettled Manchester United goal-getter Wayne Rooney shows little sign of abating, with a wheelbarrow of cash down on Real Madrid to be his club at the end of the current transfer window in recent days.
The ex-Evertonian has previously been strongly linked with PSG and Bayern Munich and – to a lesser extent – Chelsea and Arsenal and the Santiago Bernabeu outfit are the latest club punted in as his next potential destination. Having been available at 40/1 they are now as short as 10/1 to be his next port of call.
There could be more than a grain of truth to the latest speculation, with likely incoming Madrid gaffer Carlo Ancelotti thought to have had a long-term footballing crush on United’s bull-in-a-china-shop, according to the Daily Mirror. This would perhaps go some way to explaining the earlier interest in Rooney from the Italian’s current employers PSG.
It’s thought that Los Merengues president Florentino Perez would be willing to finance a £25m deal for the striker if it encourages Ancelotti to make the move to Spain. What’s more the Daily Express reports the Madrid overlord to have already met with United chief executive David Gill to discuss their player.
The forwards union at the Spanish giants looks set for something of a reshuffle during the off-season, with Gonzalo Higuain’s move to Arsenal creeping towards done-deal territory and Karim Benzema’s future also uncertain.
Los Blancos’ long-term pursuit of Edinson Cavani is dragging on and with Napoli threatening to play hardball over the Serie A top scorer even Real may baulk at paying the £53m necessary to trigger his release clause. Should Madrid lose patience with the Neapolitans, conjecture over a move for Rooney will only gather pace.
Manchester United remain even money favourites to stable the England star when the window closes in September.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
