Kamara: Man Utd armband will help Rooney re-join world’s elite

If you thought Chelsea selling David Luiz to Paris Saint-German for £50m was the best bit of transfer business this summer then think again.

We’ve snapped up Sky Sports pundit, Ladbrokes ambassador and all-round legend Chris Kamara!

Every week Kammy will be giving his views on the week’s hot topics exclusively to Ladbrokes News.

In his first column, we hear his opinions on how Wayne Rooney can bounce back to top form, why Howard Webb’s retirement from refereeing could be detrimental to the Premier League and why Frank Lampard’s switch to Manchester City is a fantastic piece of business.

Wayne Rooney my favourite to be next Man United captain 

The one thing I have noticed from Manchester United’s pre-season is that Wayne Rooney looks leaner and sharper than he has for a long time.

We can’t get too carried away because it is only pre-season but the signs are good.

Pre-season is good for confidence, it’s good for belief and it’s good for fitness but in terms of getting you results in the Premier League it means nothing.

But Rooney definitely looks a different animal to the one we saw at the World Cup.

I think he’s realised he’s slipped from being one of the top players in the world for the last few years and to get that crown back he’s got to prove to Louis van Gaal, a man of similar stature to Sir Alex Ferguson, that he is worthy of his place at a club like Manchester United.

He’s got to show the new manager that he’s worthy of being a captain and a player that can lead the football club.

The rumour mongers are saying that Rooney is going to get the skipper’s armband at Old Trafford and I’m sure they won’t be wrong.

There’s also plenty of talk about him being the next England captain. If you are going to be captain of England then to me that spells out getting your club captaincy as well.

It looks 75% certain to me that Rooney will lead out United on the opening day of the season.

Pellegrini has learned from the Harry Redknapp school of transfer business

How astute has Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini been to get Frank Lampard in on loan for six months?

That’s the type of thing that someone like Harry Redknapp would have done and people would have just said ‘that’s typical Harry, that’s how he does it.’

This is the work of a manager who’s seen an opportunity, because of the workload that his players have got, to bring someone in of Frank’s stature to play.

It’s a fantastic signing for sure.

Despite the marquee signings that Arsenal and Manchester City have made, it would be nice to see Frank play some part in the Community Shield on Sunday as well.

Only time will tell on any of these things – that’s the beauty of football.

Top referees hard to come by following Howard Webb’s retirement

It’s amazing that Howard Webb has retired, I couldn’t believe it really. I still think he’s in his prime. I suppose he’s retired on a high having just been to the World Cup.

He probably feels as if he’s set out to do everything he wanted to do as a referee after taking charge of a World Cup final too.

He’s been a fabulous referee. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Howard.

I know he’s a decent fella and he’s one of those who’s got more decisions right than wrong.

Unfortunately, we’re not blessed with an abundance of top referees.

When they became professional you thought there would be a queue from Leeds to London knocking on the door but that’s not been the case at all.

If Howard can help bring on a few more to be quality referees then hopefully he’ll have made the right decision to retire.

I’ll certainly miss taking the mickey out of him, err, I mean reviewing his performances on Goals on Sunday!

All Odds and Markets correct as of the date of publishing

Fancy a flutter? Sign up today to claim up to £100 in free bets.