Rooney to transfer to cross-city rivals

Anyone that tries to tell you Wayne Rooney doesn’t enjoy the media gaze that is continually on his tail is probably lying. The bloke is either incredibly stupid or just bloody loves to be on the pages of The Sun/Mirror/Daily Sport (delete as appropriate). Personally I think it’s probably a bit of each in equal measure – now this stupidness has again been illustrated in those tabloids Wayne so loves. It’s like a threesome made in heaven!

Reports over the weekend had already set alarm bells ringing amongst Madrid’s vice population with Rooney reportedly close to joining Cristiano Ronaldo in the Spanish capital. Now it looks like the fantasy football product on the other side of Manchester have added a new character to their blue movie. Man City is reputedly Wayne’s venue of choice and at least it will mean he can continue to use his favourite line of Mancunian prostitutes.

What are we to make of it though? Will this be the most controversial move in the history of sports, especially soccer? Well here are a few others to whet your appetite and then you can decide…

Luis Figo (Barcelona to Real Madrid)

As far as crossing the divide in Spain, few ever do it. That was in the days before the galacticos over at Real. It was the first summer of the new Millennium and one Portuguese international had the itchiest feet in the whole of Catalonia. His name: Luis Figo. His destination: Real Madrid. The price: £38million. At the time this all made Figo the most expensive player in the world, ever. What happened on his visits back to the Nou Camp will go down in folklore. In November 2002 98,000 Barca fans chanted all kinds of vitriol at Figo, had a number of banners, threw bottles, but the crowning glory was the presence of a pig’s head next to the Portuguese man as he took a corner. Rooney may have to endure the odd prawn sandwich being thrown upon his return to Old Trafford. Nothing on this scale though.

Also see Sol Campbell’s move from Tottenham to Arsenal

Mo Johnston (Celtic to Rangers (via Nantes))

Many may only know him as the former-coach of MLS side Toronto FC. There’s a lot more to the little ginger menace than meets the eye though. Although many had moved between Glasgow’s two clubs in the past, Johnston’s move from Celtic to Rangers (via Nantes) caused unrest on both sides. Supporters from Rangers were not happy to have inherited a Roman Catholic and responded by giving back their season tickets and attaching burning scarves to the fences outside Ibrox. Celtic were equally unhappy as Mo had agreed to move back to Celtic only renege on the deal when it was already done. It left Mo £3,000 worse off and hated on both sides of Glasgow. He doesn’t really seem that bothered about it though. You can’t imagine City fans would burn their scarves at the arrival of Rooney.

Ashley Cole (Arsenal to Chelsea)

As the final way your transfer goes, you could do a lot worse than everyone’s favourite person to hate and boo. Cole moved to Chelsea for £5million plus William Gallas because Arsenal wouldn’t give him the extra five grand that he was requesting. In addition to this he’s cheated on Cheryl Cole and has set quite the example to Rooney. Cole does always seem to have a smile on his face though. Maybe it’s because he’s one of the top scoring players on Premier League Fantasy Football?

So wherever Wayne does decide to go could dictate what kind of a future he could have. My advice would be to go and play in Madrid for a couple of years, returning to play for Chelsea a couple of seasons later. We shall see though.