Man U’s bemused Fergie tells shifty Roo to respect club and its traditions

LONDON - Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has told key striker Wayne Rooney that he must respect the club and its traditions if he wants to stay on.

Commenting on reports that suggest that the star player wants to leave Manchester United for another club - either Manchester City or Real Madrid - the Daily Mail quoted Ferguson, as saying: “We are dealing with agents who are living in the pockets of players, it’s a different world and we have to deal with it. I said to him (Rooney) - ‘Just remember one thing: respect this club. I don’t want any nonsense from you, respect your club.’

“What we’re seeing now in the media is disappointing because we’ve done everything we can for Wayne Rooney, since the minute he’s come to the club,” Ferguson added.

The revelation that Rooney cheated on his pregnant wife with prostitutes has damaged his footballing form and done nothing for his relationship with the in-laws.

But it certainly hasn’t harmed Wayne Rooney’s earning power.

Little more than a month after the sordid allegations hit headlines, the 24-year-old is poised to become the world’s first one million-pound-a-month player after telling Manchester United he wants to leave the club.

Although United were ready to offer Rooney an increase from 100,000 pounds-a-week to 160,000 pounds-a-week, it is understood the striker and his agent, Paul Stretford, believe he can earn 250,000 pounds-a-week, or12 million pounds-a-year.

But Rooney’s wife Coleen - who spent a week apart from her husband following the revelations - appears to have ruled out a move abroad to Spanish giants Real Madrid or Barcelona.

She is believed to have no interest in taking their 11-month-old son Kai overseas because of her television and modelling career.

The 24-year-old is also said to want to remain close to her adopted sister, Rosie, 12, who suffers with the neurological condition Rett Syndrome.

In an astonishing press conference yesterday, Ferguson revealed how Rooney had informed the club two months ago that he wanted to quit and admitted he was completely bemused by the decision.

The Scot said the club’s chief executive David Gill told him on August 14 - two days before United played their first Premier League game of the season - that Rooney wanted out. It followed a meeting with Mr. Stretford, whom Rooney regards as a father figure.

Rooney, who turns 25 on Sunday, is already worth 33 million pounds, but is said to have been jealous of Cristiano Ronaldo’s 220,000-pounds-a-week salary when the winger left United for Real Madrid last �summer.

At the press conference, Ferguson said he was ’shocked’ and ‘disappointed’ by Rooney’s request.

‘We are as bemused as anyone can be, we can’t quite understand why he would want to leave. I am disappointed, I can’t believe it,” Ferguson said.

He hinted at Rooney’s troubled private life and said: “We have always been here as a harbour for him any time he has been in trouble. The advice we have given him, I was even prepared to give him financial advice. We have done nothing but help him since he came to the club.”

“This is a club which bases all its history and its tradition on the loyalty and trust between managers and players and the club.That goes back to the days of Sir Matt. That’s what it’s founded on. Wayne’s been a beneficiary of this help, just as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and all the players have been. That’s what we’re there for,” said Ferguson. (ANI)