‘Wayne Rooney is Arsenal’s priority’ – and five reasons why he might be tempted

The Daily Mail has run a story this morning which may or may not shed a bit more light on the Wayne Rooney and his Arsenal possible transfer.

The paper says that

Arsenal hope a package of around £170,000-per-week and a multi-million pound signing on fee – plus the security of a five year contract – could persuade Rooney to take a pay cut from his current £250,000-per-week deal at Old Trafford, that has two years left to run.

It also says

But getting a sensational move for Rooney over the line remains Arsenal’s priority ahead of next season. And Gazidis insists the club, who have in excess of £70million to splash on transfer fees this summer, have the financial structure in place to land established stars like Rooney.

Many Arsenal fans seem very cynical about the move for Rooney and justifiably so. Arsenal haven’t bought a high profile player from United in the Premiership era. To join the club the player would almost certainly be taking a significant pay cut. Rooney is also settled in the north west where he has lived all his life.

In short there are lots of good reasons why Rooney won’t be leaving Manchester United and joining Arsenal, but as time goes by it does feel like Arsenal are serious in their pursuit of the England player.

Here then are a few reasons why Rooney might just be Arsenal bound.

1 It is not a bad financial offer - If The Mail is right then Rooney is taking an £80k per week pay cut. The again if he does stay there are no guarantees that United will offer him anything like that amount of money. Of course he could hang on another year – he has two year left on his contract – which would put him in a very good negotiating position. But another year of being eclipsed by Van Persie and whoever else United bring in could bring that value down further. He could possibly get more money from PSG, but who is to say they are going to bid for him and besides would he really rather live in Pairs than London? Wayne on The Champs-Elysees? Not sure…

2 He would be the star at Arsenal – I get the feeling that Wayne just wants to be loved. He isn’t feeling that at the moment at United. A move to Arsenal would trigger a huge wave of excitement in North London – just think how many Rooney shirts would be sold over the summer?

3 He could lead the line – Ferguson has been playing Rooney in a deeper position and it is one that suits some aspects of his game but not others. He wants to lead the line.  Who knows what Moyes will do with him? At Arsenal he would be the first choice striker.

4 He would be joining up with some pals – Arsenal has a good crop of English youngsters who, if their body language in recent friendlies is anything to go by, get on well with the United star. Playing alongside Wilshere, Walcott and Oxlade Chamberlain might be a pull in the way it was to Ashley Cole when he left Arsenal to join his England mates at Chelsea.

5 The fact that Gazidis is being bullish about the cash and about Rooney - At a press conference Ivan Gazidis was asked if the Gunners could afford a £20 million deal, plus £200,00-a-week wage.

He responded…

“Of course we could do that. We could do more than that.”

“We have a certain amount which we’ve held in reserve. We also have new revenue streams coming on board and all of these things mean we can do some things which would excite you.

“If Arsene thinks signing big names is the right thing to do, yes. The fact is this year we are beginning to see something we have been planning for some time, which is the escalation in our financial firepower.

“We can look at some options that weren’t really in our financial capability. It’s a progression over the next two seasons. It’s quite significant for the club.”

Arsenal would be a new start for the England striker. It seems that the ball is very much in his court.

Incidentally The Mail has the full transcript of what Ivan Gazidis said yesterday here.