No special treatment for new boy Rooney at United
Although Rooney has not played a minute since he limped out of England's Euro 2004 quarter-final with hosts Portugal in June, rarely has a day gone by without him making headlines of one sort or another. Most recently, they have been to do with transgressions in his private life - the type that Ferguson will not tolerate.
Even though he accepts times have changed markedly from the day he burst into a party Lee Sharpe and Ryan Giggs were hosting and ordered all the girls present to go home, Ferguson likes his players to have a controlled and stable family life.
A refusal to conform to the United manager's standards was one of the major reasons behind the departure of David Beckham. Ferguson feels it is the pay-back required for his refusal to do anything other than defend members of his squad in public when they do something wrong and, should he fall off the internal disciplinary tightrope, Rooney will quickly experience his new manager's wrath.
"It isn't more difficult for me to look after young players than it has been in the past, simply because in my mind things are black and white," said Ferguson.
"If I have to speak to a player about an issue, they are either doing the right thing or the wrong one. In that respect nothing has changed.
"What has changed is that it is far harder for the players now.
"There is far more interest in the game from outside the dressing room or the training ground.
"There are more people waiting for autographs and, no matter where they are, they could be photographed at any time and can't do a thing about it.
"Young players nowadays face tremendous pressures, there is no doubt about it, but fortunately we have a pretty good track record at dealing with it."
In Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers, Ferguson feels Rooney has enough examples in the United dressing room to learn from, while the player himself feels he has matured enormously over the past 12 months.
United chief executive David Gill has refuted suggestions that the Old Trafford outfit have broken their strict financial code to land Rooney.
The word coming out of the United camp all summer has been that the Red Devils could not afford to do a deal until January and even though the majority of the £27million they will pay Everton for Rooney is spread over time, they have still had to find £10million as an instant deposit.
Yet Gill, who famously had to answer 99 corporate governance questions from major shareholders John Magnier and JP McManus at the start of the year, insists the club is being run as prudently as ever.
He confirmed that the £45million, 7,500-seater stadium expansion programme was going ahead as planned and backed his manager by claiming, once Everton had indicated they were willing to sell Rooney, United had to make a move.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has labelled the fee paid for Wayne Rooney as "exorbitant".
The Spaniard, who also revealed he wanted to sign Jonathan Woodgate before the defender's move to Real Madrid from Newcastle, believes United have paid over the odds for the 18-year-old England striker, who left Everton this week in a deal worth £27million.
"Rooney is a good striker, but I have to be sincere and what has been paid for him is exorbitant," he said.
"Manchester have made their decision but at times the market goes over the top."
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
