Man Utd urged to turn to Wayne Rooney in transfer window to solve striker crisis

Posted Tuesday, January 21, 2020 by Dailystar.co.uk

Manchester United have been urged to resign club hero Wayne Rooney to solve their injury crisis.

Rooney is currently plying his trade in the Championship with Derby County after spending two seasons with MLS outfit DC United.

The veteran managed 253 goals in 559 outings to become the Red Devils' record goalscorer between 2004 and 2017, but now plays in a much deeper role.

Despite his advanced age and central midfield home, Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol believes that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could use him as a short-term replacement for Marcus Rashford.

"To go back to your first question about strikers who Manchester United should sign," Solhekol said.

"In the past sometimes they have surprised us by who they've signed, the players they've gone for.

"I remember when Sir Alex Ferguson signed Eric Cantona out of the blue, when they signed Andy Cole out of the blue, when they signed Henrik Larsson on loan out of the blue.

"There is one player who's a Manchester United legend, who's scored more goals for Manchester United than anyone else, somebody who's scored more goals for England than anyone else, who is 34 years old, who is a player-coach at Derby County, he lives close to Carrington - maybe it's time to give Wayne Rooney a call.

"Why not? Would he not get into this Manchester United team? Would he not improve this squad? A quick fix."

Rooney, 34, has impressed in Phillip Cocu's midfield as Derby show signs of improvement following a difficult spell after Frank Lampard's departure.

Rashford, who became the club's main striker this season after Romelu Lukaku's departure, has been ruled out for up to three months with a stress fracture.

Solskjaer hinted after the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool that he and the club will target short-term deals rather than multi-million pounds signings.

"We're always looking at chances to improve the squad - with Marcus out for a while we have to look at it closely," the Norwegian said.

"We've had many injuries for big players this season. It's just an unfortunate situation we're in.

"We might look at some short-term deals as well that could take us through to the summer. We don't desperately need a striker, [but] if the right one is there and it fits for us [we could do it].

"For the permanent signings the targets aren't going to change because we've got two or three players injured, but there might be some short-term deals we have to do."