Rooney fee?

[steevie]

Do you really think that, at the time we sold him, he deserved to be the most expensive player in history?

I mean, Zidane at his peak went for £46m, and that was at a time when transfers fees were generally much higher than they were in 2004. Rooney at the time wasn't the finished product (he probably isn't yet), and there were question about his attitude.

You can argue about potential, but the economics show that this isn't enough to demand a world record fee. If you look at the list of the biggest transfers, you'll see that they are all - Rooney apart - proven at the top level at the time of the transfer. Clubs simply don't pay big money for potential, they pay it for the finished article.

It's also really easy to look at him now and say he was worth £40m 5 years ago, but remember that at several points in his United career people were asking whether he was all that. When Chelsea were walking the league and he was scoring "only" 15 goals a season (you have to move the scale upwards for a Man Utd forward), people were asking the same questions about him that they are now asking about Tevez/Berbatov.

Not every wonderkid youngster fulfils his promise. Nani at United, Jeffers at us. Both sold for for over £10m, both didn't progress. Yes, Rooney was a cut above, and that's why he went for £28m.

But to expect somebody to pay a world record fee for a relatively unproved striker who doesn't score too many goals - and to say that our executives were useless, as some are - is crazy talk.

Was'nt £30 million the quoted price for Rooney and £30 million is the fee we should recieve. United wanted the lad badly and they dictated the terms. In truth, it should have been Everton Football Club that controlled matters and set up all these clauses that United seemingly done to capture a player they wanted but in the bargain, they got their cake and ate it.