James Wilson wants to emulate Rooney’s free-kicks

Manchester United striker James Wilson has revealed that he would like to adopt the strength of Wayne Rooney’s free-kick taking abilities, as reported by the club’s official website.

In an interview with magazine Inside United, Wilson was asked which attributes he would like to emulate from his three striker team-mates. The 19-

year-old had this to say about Rooney: “I would take Wayne’s free-kicks because he practices them every day and more often than not they go on target at least, if not in the top corner.”

The young front-man has made just 12 appearances for the United first-team this season, scoring one goal and creating one chance with a shot accuracy of 50%. He featured for United’s U21s on Monday night against Leicester, lining up alongside Robin van Persie in a clash that ended 1-1.

United have had an impressive second half of the season under Louis van Gaal, with the Red Devils now comfortably sitting in the top four with Champions League football all but guaranteed for next term.

The Dutchman’s side have scored 59 goals this season, conceding 31, winning 48% of their average duels and with a shot accuracy of 48%.

United currently sit third on 65 points, one adrift of Arsenal in second and one ahead of rivals Manchester City in fourth. They were beaten 1-0 away to leaders Chelsea at the weekend, and next up for them is another away trip, this time to Goodison Park to face a resurgent Everton side.