Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has predicted that it will take 15 years for his hometown team to return to the top of Europe.
“Wayne Rooney has delivered a ruthless verdict on the state of Manchester United, calling for the majority of the squad to be sold and warning that it could take 15 years for the club to win the Champions League again,” the Daily Mail reported on Jan. 16 (KST).
Rooney is a former England international striker who was part of Manchester United’s golden era and was one of the club’s all-time greatest strikers, scoring 253 goals and providing 134 assists in 559 games during a 13-year career at the club.
He played alongside South Korean soccer legend Park Ji-Sung during United’s glory years. Together, Rooney and Park won 13 trophies with United, including the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League title.
Manchester United’s glory days ended in 2013 when legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson retired. Since Ferguson’s departure, United has never finished at the top of the Premier League, let alone the UEFA Champions League.
The 2023-24 season was another disappointing year for United. Going into the final game of the season, United are currently in eighth place in the league. With 14 losses in the league this season, they set a new record for most league losses in a single season since the Premier League’s inception in 1992. United’s previous single-season Premier League loss record was 12 (2013-14 and 2021-22).
Rooney’s disappointment with his club’s poor year has not gone unnoticed, and he has argued that the majority of the players currently playing for the club need to be sold if United are to regain their former glory.
“You have to build a team around Bruno Fernandes,” Rooney told Sky Sports, “he’s got quality, he’s fighting, and in my opinion, you have to keep the young players, keep Bruno Fernandes, and get rid of the rest,” he said.
“I think we need a big cleanup. I don’t think 카지노사이트 it’s going to happen in a year, but I think it’s going to happen in the next couple of years.”
Rooney also discussed closing the gap on Manchester City with fellow United legend Andy Cole. The striker scored 121 goals and provided 45 assists in 275 appearances for United, and was part of the club’s 1988-99 treble.
“For me personally, the gap with Man City is not going to be closed in two years,” Cole said, “There is no way to close the gap in two years. It will take time, and the building process could be four or five years.”
“If you look at Man City, it took them 15 years to win the Champions League after they had a new owner,” Rooney said, adding that fans may or may not want to see that.
Global tycoon Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan took over Man City in 2008 and has spent his vast capital to build the team into one of the world’s top clubs. With Mansour’s support, City finally won the UEFA Champions League for the first time in the club’s history in 2022-23.
Following City’s example, which took 15 years to return to the top of Europe under new ownership, Rooney believes it could take United at least 15 years to win the UEFA Champions League again. United also welcomed British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe as its new owner in February.
If Rooney’s prediction is correct, United will not win the UEFA Champions League until the 2038-39 season, 15 years from now. In that case, the 1981-born player would have to wait until he was 58 years old to see his hometown club win the Champions League.
This timeframe could be shortened or lengthened, depending entirely on the new United manager.