Rooney expects rejuvenated Manchester United to challenge for title

Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney Action Images via Reuters 

Reuters: Manchester United have been rejuvenated under new manager Jose Mourinho and are poised to mount a strong challenge for the Premier League title, skipper Wayne Rooney has said.

The 30-year-old forward, who secured his fifth league title with the club the last time they won it in 2013, scored eight top flight goals last season as United finished fifth and failed to qualify for the Champions League.

The 20-times English title winners have already signed striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, midfielder Henrikh Mkhityaran and defender Eric Bailly and according to local media reports, have been negotiating with Juventus over the transfer of Paul Pogba.

“I think the players feel this is more like the old Manchester United. It’s not just the new signings, we’ve got Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford from last season who made such an impact,” Rooney told the Daily Mail in an interview.

Rooney, who will line up against boyhood club Everton in his testimonial at Old Trafford on Wednesday, also hopes United can secure the annual Community Shield against English champions Leicester City at Wembley on Sunday.

“We’re in a very good spot now, we think we can challenge for the Premier League, and we want to put a marker down, in the Community Shield with Leicester,” Rooney added.

“I know it’s a one-off game, but we want to show we can win a trophy early on... we feel that’s an important event for us.”

United, who thrashed Turkish side Galatasaray 5-2 in a friendly on Saturday, open their league campaign with a trip to Bournemouth on August 14.

Rooney targets 2018 World Cup under Allardyce

​Reuters: England striker Wayne Rooney intends to be available for England duty through to the 2018 World Cup in Russia when he will decide on his international future, he was quoted as saying on Monday.

“I’ll carry on until the World Cup in 2018 and then I might have a decision to make,” he told the Daily Mail in an interview. “But for the next two years, captain or not captain, I’ll turn up and be available to play if I am wanted.”

The Manchester United forward, who skippered his country in their Euro 2016 campaign which ended with a shock defeat by Iceland in the last 16, said he had briefly talked to new England manager Sam Allardyce but not about the captaincy.

“I’ve spoken to him. Not at length about how we’re going to play or my role, but he seems very excited about the job and he’ll have his own way of doing it,” Rooney said of the former Sunderland manager who was appointed last month.

“I don’t think it would be fair to expect him to make a decision on the captaincy now. So I’ll wait and see what he thinks. He’ll want to see the group, work with us all and then make his decision.”