Wenger Would Not Have Signed Rooney

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that he would not have signed Wayne Rooney if the striker had become available.

Rooney appeared to be set to leave Manchester United after revealing his disappointment at the club’s ambition. However, his sensational U-turn on Friday lunchtime means that the striker will be at Old Trafford the next five years at least.

Speaking in his press conference on Friday, Wenger admitted that he was surprised that the speculation surrounding Rooney has caused such an intense media reaction.

“When I saw the headlines I just turned the page.

“It just shows it wasn’t worth making such a fuss about the story.

“I feel it was a situation where there was not a lot to talk about. You have a player 18 months from [the end of] his contract and so the only surprise for me is that Man United came out.

“Just because he has a different name it was certainly a story. But it is a super-classical story which happens in every club every week, so I could never is understand what was really special in this case.

“Certainly now Rooney has got the guarantees he wanted, you can translate that like you want.”

Wenger went on to state that he would not have been interested in signing the striker should he have failed to agree a new contract at United.

“You don’t question the quality of Wayne Rooney but I was never thinking about that. Just a story from the start to the end was completely out of interest.”

Many pundits would state that Arsenal would never have been in the running to sign Rooney due to Wenger’s refusal to shell out on large transfer fees and wage demands in his recent transfer dealings.

However, Wenger has nonetheless moved to quash any speculation that he would have joined Manchester City, Barcelona, and Real Madrid in the queue to sign the striker, had he not stayed at Old Trafford.