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Rooney: Manchester United could not confirm star signings

21 October 2010 00:10 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. English soccer star Wayne Rooney has revealed he wants to leave Manchester United because he did not receive assurances that the Premier League club will invest in top players, APA reports quoting CNN.
The striker released a statement on Wednesday following his manager Alex Ferguson’s own revelations about the 24-year-old’s future the day before.
"I met with [United chief executive] David Gill last week and he did not give me any of the assurances I was seeking about the future squad," Rooney said.
"I then told him that I would not be signing a new contract."
Rooney’s comments can be seen as a condemnation of the club’s financial situation -- it is one of the most profitable in the world but this month announced record losses of $137 million for the past year, mainly due to debts incurred by its American owners, the Glazer family.
United have won a joint record 18 English league titles, but last season Chelsea took the top spot after Cristiano Ronaldo was allowed to leave Old Trafford to join Real Madrid in a world-record deal.
Rooney took over Ronaldo’s mantle as the team’s key player, but suffered more disappointment as United could not defend the club’s European Champions League crown either.
"I was interested to hear what Sir Alex had to say yesterday and surprised by some of it," said Rooney, whose contract expires in mid-2012.
"It is absolutely true, as he said, that my agent and I have had a number of meetings with the club about a new contract. During those meetings in August I asked for assurances about the continued ability of the club to attract the top players in the world.
"I have never had anything but complete respect for MUFC. How could I not have done, given its fantastic history and especially the last six years in which I have been lucky to play a part?
"For me it’s all about winning trophies -- as the club has always done under Sir Alex. Because of that, I think the questions I was asking were justified."
Rooney, who first sparked speculation about his future last week when he publicly contradicted Ferguson with statements about his fitness, insisted that he meant no disrespect to the 68-year-old manager.
"Despite recent difficulties, I know I will always owe Sir Alex Ferguson a huge debt. He is a great manager and mentor who has helped and supported me from the day he signed me from Everton when I was only 18," he said.
"For Manchester United’s sake, I wish he could go on forever because he’s a one off and a genius."
Rooney has rarely played for United since newspaper reports emerged in September claiming he had cheated on his then-pregnant wife by sleeping with a prostitute.
His statement came on the evening of United’s Champions League match at home to Turkish side Bursaspor, which he sat out after suffering another ankle injury in training on Tuesday.
Rooney returned to action for United as a substitute on Saturday, having been sidelined since injuring an ankle in another Champions League match against Rangers last month.
Since Ferguson’s comments on Tuesday, Rooney has been widely tipped to leave Old Trafford during the January transfer window as United seek to cash in on him before his contract runs down and his sale value decreases.
However, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini dismissed speculation that the big-spending club will lure Rooney away from arch-rivals United earlier on Wednesday.
City raided Old Trafford to bring Argentina forward Carlos Tevez to Eastlands in a 2009 deal that angered United boss Alex Ferguson, but Mancini insists that he will not be repeating that to sign the wantaway forward.
"Rooney is a great player but I think he’ll stay at United. He’s a good player, he’s an important player for United," the Italian told reporters.
"He is a United player. It’s not correct to speak about that situation. I have respect for him, for Ferguson, for United. I want to speak only about my players."