Wayne Rooney's Manchester United contract a surprise, says Arsene Wenger

Follow live news and reaction to today's announcement

Rooney today agreed a new five-year contract, having earlier in the week claimed the Old Trafford club no longer matched his ambitions.

Wenger felt all the indications were Rooney would move on when the transfer window opened again in January.

"Once the club came out and said that they couldn't find an agreement it was a message that they wanted to sell," Wenger said.

"Certainly Rooney has got the guarantees he wanted - you can translate that like you want, but that's it."

The Arsenal manager, however, could not understand what all the fuss had been about.

"It was just a story that for me, from the start to the end, was of no interest to me. When I saw the headlines I just turned the page," Wenger said.

"I was never really interested in that story because what happened with Wayne Rooney happens to every club, every year - plenty of times.

"Just because he has a different name it was certainly a story, but it is a super-classical story which happens in every club, every week, so I could never understand what was really special in this case."

Former Manchester United midfielder Lou Macari feels Rooney will have to work hard to rebuild relationships with his team-mates.

"I'm shocked. Nothing's shocked me more in football than this week," Macari said.

"I thought this week leading up to today was enough but I just couldn't believe it when I got the news today what had happened."