Wayne Rooney is completely wrong about this "horrendous" Man United transfer, maverick star was 'magical'
Wayne Rooney said that Man United’s transfer business was “horrendous” during his playing days.
Former Man United star Wayne Rooney is no stranger to making controversial opinions on his old club. The former England captain has been very critical of both the club hierarchy and manager Ruben Amorim in the past, despite things seemingly taking a turn for the better as of late.
United are currently just one point off the top four in the Premier League, and unbeaten in five games after their 2-2 draw to Tottenham last time out. However, Rooney has been critical of the club, and his latest criticism is aimed at United’s recruitment while he was at the club.
The Red Devils have posted significant losses over the past 10 years, and fans will hope that the most recent summer signings of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Senne Lammens will buck that trend. Rooney suggested that signing one of his former teammates was a very bad decision by the club.
Rooney thinks Zlatan signing was a bad idea
In 2016, Rooney was the captain at Old Trafford, playing as a number 10, and almost more of an attacking midfielder for the Red Devils. That summer, United signed Swedish legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free transfer, and Rooney played alongside him for two seasons.
However, even though during Ibrahimovic’s time at United, the club won the Europa League and the Carabao Cup, Rooney said that signing him was a bad decision. He recently spoke about how adding big names such as Ibrahimovic, Romelu Lukaku, and Paul Pogba was ‘horrendous’ recruitment by the club.
He said: “The recruitment at Manchester United before last summer was horrendous. They were just bringing big names in - you look at Lukaku, Zlatan, Pogba - they're good players but they were just bringing names in and spending enormous amounts of money. It's going to take a bit of time to get over those mistakes.”
Rooney is completely wrong about Ibrahimovic signing
First, let’s start off by quelling Rooney’s argument about United wasting money on big-name players, because the Swedish striker was signed on a free transfer. Yes, he was on a salary of around £19m per year, but they didn’t have to pay a transfer fee for him in the first place.
Secondly, let’s consider just how much of an impact Zlatan had during his time at United, as his goal-scoring was superb. In his first season, 2016/17, the Swedish striker made 46 appearances in all competitions for United, scoring 28 goals and providing 10 assists.
In comparison, the same season, Rooney managed just eight goals and 10 assists in 39 matches for the club. Ibrahimovic’s goals virtually led United to winning the Europa League under Mourinho, and they simply wouldn’t have won that title in 2017, had they not signed the Swedish striker in the previous summer.
So yes, Rooney may be right about Pogba and Lukaku not being the best pieces of business that Man United have ever done, but let’s give the Red Devils a bit of a break. Zlatan’s short spell at the club was magical.