Ferguson staged Rooney fiasco to raise Man U ’salary ceiling’: Bosnich

LONDON - Former Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich believes that manager Sir Alex Ferugson had staged the Wayne Rooney fiasco in a bid to raise the club’s salary cap.

“I don’t think it was so much of a battle. He (Ferguson) has basically played a very very smart move,” Fox Sports quoted Bosnich, as saying.

“He’s got his best player and someone who he is very close to more money than he thought he was going to get.”

“That’s raised the salary ceiling that Manchester United would have had internally … so now that opens up the market for him to buy other players,” he added.

When asked if he thought Ferguson had used Rooney as leverage against the club’s American owners, Bosnich said: “Of course he has.”

“As soon as Rooney came out and said ‘I’m not so sure that the ambition is what it once was’, that wasn’t Wayne Rooney speaking in my opinion that was Sir Alex Ferguson speaking,” he added.

Bosnich’s comments come after an extraordinary backflip from Rooney, who after claiming that he wanted to move out of the club performed an incredible U-turn over his future by signing a new five-year contract.

Rooney, who was previously on 90,000 pounds per week, is now understood to be earning a basic salary in excess of 150,000 pounds per week.

The 25-year-old is now the highest-paid player at United, overtaking defender Rio Ferdinand. (ANI)