US Edition Just a week after returning from a seven-day break in Dubai, Rooney will fly to the Pacific north-west of the United States on Saturday following Ferguson’s decision to send the player away to continue his recovery from an ankle injury.
The Manchester United forward has endured a troubled campaign on and off the pitch, with allegations that he slept with prostitutes preceding his divisive public refusal to sign a new contract at the club.
Although he committed himself to a new £160,000-a-week five-year deal two weeks ago, Rooney’s thinly-veiled criticism of the club’s ambition led to an outspoken response from United team-mates Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher.
Rooney’s apparent readiness to leave United for Manchester City appears to have irrevocably damaged his relationship with the club’s supporters. With the Manchester derby taking place at Eastlands on Wednesday, Ferguson’s decision to send Rooney to the other side of the world will, at least, take away the possibility of him becoming an unwanted distraction next week.
But with Ferguson reporting earlier this week that Rooney had started jogging on Monday, United’s assistant manager Mike Phelan has revealed the England striker should be fit for selection on his return should he successfully refocus and rediscover his concentration levels in Portland.
Phelan said: “We have to get Wayne refocused and get him back on the job in hand, which is playing football for Manchester United. So what we intend to do is to send him to Nike’s facility in America for a week’s conditioning training.
“We decided with Wayne, with our medical team and our management and coaching team, that it would be best. It’s a week of intensive conditioning, supervised by our medical team and sport science department. If it goes according to plan, he will be available when he returns.
“Wayne has had a lot of attention lately, so this will give him the best opportunity to be in good shape when he returns. The idea was based on a number of things. Change of scenery, the opportunity to use all the facilities there, and also just to take him out of the spotlight a little bit and get him concentrated.”
Ferguson said in a short statement on United’s website: “The simple reason Wayne is going to the US is to continue his rehabilitation programme and undergo a week of concentrated training and conditioning under the supervision of our medical and sports science staff.”
Although United midfielder Owen Hargreaves spent time in Colorado and Vancouver attempting to win his two-year battle against knee injury, Rooney’s departure for Portland is bemusing because of the multi-million pound facility used daily by United at their Carrington training centre.
Carrington possesses cutting-edge equipment such as underwater treadmills, numerous swimming pools and a running machine which replicates the sensation of exercising in zero gravity.
United’s thinking is that having missed a large part of pre-season, following his involvement at the World Cup, Rooney would benefit from the trip to the States. “He needs the conditioning, we all agree with that, and he can go there without the attention that would get around here,” added Phelan.
“We’re confident that the ankle injury has improved sufficiently enough to put him through a conditioning period and that is what we intend to do over the next seven days.
“His condition is not too bad. We’ve looked at him in great detail and he is on a par with other footballers at this club, but he just needs that extra little bit.”
Phelan added: “I don’t think Dubai was anything else but a break, but he is going there [to Portland] to do some serious work.”