So, Wayne Rooney has put pen to paper and signed a contract till 2019, and in all probability, with the revelation that he will be a club ambassador once he retires, he will spend the rest of his career at Man Utd. I have been waiting for a while for a concrete update on Wayne Rooney, to write this article. Rumors have been floating around about this contract extension for some time. That said, knowing modern footballers and their frail commitments, it’s better to not assume unless there’s something on paper. I have been a vocal advocate of Rooney for a while, as is evident in this article I wrote back when he supposedly put in a transfer request and the shitstorm that ensued as a result.
Only a fool would argue that United don’t “need” Rooney. Sure, no player is bigger than the club, but there is evidence to suggest Rooney hasn’t exactly been treated in a way that suited his talent, ego and personality. But that is beside the point. I am going to try and hopefully accurately predict, how I believe Wayne Rooney will be treated by history.
Manmohan Singh, the outgoing Indian Prime Minister recently proclaimed that history will be kinder to him and his government. Although it’s difficult to see that happening, history will most definitely be much more kinder to Rooney. What have been Wayne Rooney’s faults? Handing in two transfer requests only to sign more lucrative contract extensions? Trust me when I say, when, not if, Rooney scores that chipped goal, all will be forgotten in an instant. Not even in the distant future, just 2 years from now, Rooney in all probability will be once again a fan favourite. £300,00 a week or £1 million a week, Rooney is worth every single penny. Dare I say, he’s more important to us, at least right now, than Ronaldo ever was.
People, in general, not just football fans, have a very short memory nowadays. Twitter especially is the worst. The newspapers will hound you one day, and the next day you will be The White Pele, the savior of the English National Team. I am not being condescending here, I have a terrible memory span myself. I forgive the cardinal sin of handing in a transfer request TWICE, way too easily. But we have to see it in context. Rooney, a talented, ambitious footballer has been stuck with average players around him for years now. Players, who just don’t care. And if there’s one thing you can say about Rooney, it’s that he does care. He may be temperamental, he may be arrogant, he may be egotistical, but he cares. And it might just be me, but I believe, years down the line, Rooney will be revered as a club legend. Maybe it’s too early to predict that, but the guy has been with us for 9 years, and has signed on for 5 and a ½ more, perhaps he’s not as evil as we want him to be.
Rooney’s the archetypal anti-hero footballer. More talented than his peers, more ambitious than his peers, but someone easily ticked off, frustrated and not really smart when it comes to “just letting things go”. A sly boot to the face here, a push and a shove there, they’re not the brightest footballers around. But if you try to tame them, they’re not themselves and they can’t perform to their potential. Perhaps not being an alcoholic and a junkie who beats his wife (he’s already cheated) is the only chink in his armor of being a bad-boy. Liverpool fans have already forgiven Suarez for worse crimes. The crime of publicly claiming the want to leave the club.
Football is not played the way it was used to. There’s crazy amount of money in the game now. We’re all corruptible anyway. Loyalty is a mere word now. And we have to accept this dystopic reality. The holier than thou approach is best dismissed. If you want to keep a world class player, you have to dole out the moolah.
I might be accused of being overly optimistic when I say this, but Rooney will be remembered as an arguably misunderstood flawed genius who helped United, maybe reluctantly but never half-heartedly, for a decade and a half to dominate the Premier League.
