Manchester United could have seen the best of Wayne Rooney were a few years ago according to club legend Paul Scholes, who has left the club after being the coaching staff for the last few matches of last season. Scholes played with Rooney for several years before announcing his retirement as a footballer last summer. Rooney endured a disappointing campaign with United, although it was good to him on a personal level after finding 17 goals, as the club finished in seventh place of the league.
Even though he was a first-team regular under David Moyes, his place in the team will be coming under threat from Louis van Gaal, whose praise of striker Robin van Persie has already raised such doubts. Scholes has added more pressure on Rooney by suggesting that the 28-year-old could retire at the end of his current contract. Rooney signed a new five-year deal which would take him to 33 by the time it completes. Scholes reckons that the England international may not play beyond that since he has already played a lot of matches in his career.
Despite being only 28, Rooney is close to playing in 600 matches for United alone while there are several more to come with regard to England.
“Wayne was in the Everton team at 16 years of age, in 2003. Since then he’s played at Euro 2004, two World Cups, Premier League, and Champions League every year at United. There’s a chance he’s worn out. Wayne’s peak may have been a lot younger than what we’d expect of footballers traditionally. Age 28 or 29 has been the normal ‘peak’. With Wayne, it could have been when he scored 27 league goals in 2011/2012 when he was 26,” said Scholes, who has also stated that he is unlikely to return back to United as part of the coaching staff next season.