With Wayne Rooney being involved in a sex scandal, insiders at Manchester United have revealed that club authorities are yet to decide on offering him a new contract, despite manager Alex Ferguson saying that a deal worth 140,000 pounds a week is in the offing for the key striker.
The Sun quoted an insider, as saying: "If Rooney gets to next summer without signing a new deal his transfer value will plummet, United will lose millions and he will be able to join any club he fancies in the world."
With his future with devastated wife Coleen the subject of national debate, there are fears at Manchester United that Rooney, 24, may turn his back on the Premier League and escape abroad, probably to Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Before the World Cup there were suggestions of an improved five-year deal to stay at United as the club’s highest-paid player. But the striker’s stock has fallen since then.
Rooney has 18 months left on his present contract. His first meeting with Manchester United chief executive David Gill was due to take place two weeks ago, but this is yet to happen.
Rooney is United’s flagship player, whose image is wanted for use in all advertising and to entice potential new sponsors. But that image has been shattered over the last month — a factor that may affect negotiations. The club will not want to be seen as rewarding their star player at a time when his position as a role model has crumbled.
In August, he was pictured urinating in the street, smoking and singing in the early hours after a night out. Now stories have come out about him having sex with a prostitute while wife Coleen was pregnant with their son Kai. And on the pitch things have not gone much better.