Sir Alex Ferguson claimed cannot see anyone beating Wayne Rooney's
goal scoring record for Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson has hailed
Wayne Rooney's “outstanding” achievement and says he cannot
see anyone beating his Manchester United scoring record.
The 31-year-old notched his 250th United goal in Saturday's 1-1 draw
at Stoke to move clear of Sir Bobby Charlton, with the World Cup winner
also calling Rooney a"true great" after breaking a record that had stood since 1973.
Alex Ferguson, who led the Old Trafford side to 13 Premier League
titles, five FA Cups andtwo Champions League crowns, praised Rooney and
said the United captain's record may well stand the test of time.
Rooney scored his 250th goal for Manchester United against Stoke
"Well, it lasted for 44 years, I think, and when Wayne Rooney joined
the club I could never imagine anybody could beat Sir Bobby's record," Ferguson told MUTV.
"So his achievement is outstanding. It's amazing. He's 200-odd games
short of Bobby's playing record and that makes it even more
amazing.Stoke 1-1 Man Utd
"I don't think [anyone can overtake Wayne].I couldn't say never -
never say never - but if you look at modern-day football, Manchester
United are one of the few clubs who can keep players for over 10 years.
"It is more difficult than ever but we werevery lucky if you look at
my time, even in Sir Matt Busby's time, we had players who stayed for
more than 10 years. Many, many players did that and Wayne is one of
them.
"But, in the modern day, you see it happening less and less that
players stay for that length of time.Roy Hodgson says he won't be
surprisedif Rooney breaks more records
"For instance, Jose [Mourinho] mentioned young Marcus Rashford and
he's got to score more than 20 goals a season for the next 10 years or
so and that is difficult in itself.
You hope it lasts and he stays here more than 10 years but there are fewer players doing that now."
Ferguson made Rooney the most expensive teenager of all time when he signed the striker from Everton for around £30m in 2004.
The Scot insists there was real value to be had in the deal and says
the fact that Rooney has been at the club so long justifies the money
paid for him.
Rooney celebrates scoring his 249th United goal against Reading
"The only way you can assess value is the length of time he has been at the club," the former United boss said.
"I was very lucky in my time to have Roy Keane for 11 years, Steve
Bruce for a long period, Peter Schmeichel for years, Dennis Irwin, you
know?
"The young ones that came through like Ryan [Giggs], Paul [Scholes]
and Gary [Neville] lasted more than 10 years. The only way you can
really judge value is the length of time you've got with them.
Ferguson signed Rooney for Manchester United in 2004
"I always remember when we signed Gary Pallister, £2.3m was a record
for a centre-back, but, hey, we got nine, 10 years out of Gary and we
sold him again for £2.5m.
"So the only way you can judge is that and with the case of Wayne,
what we felt at the time was 18 years of age, he had huge potential.
Hopefully if we have got him for 10 years, £27m is nothing. It is gone
like that... the value was there, no question."
Source:- Skysports