Rooney staying put, says Gill

MAN UNITED’s prized asset Wayne Rooney is not for sale at any price, Old Trafford chief executive David Gill claimed yesterday.

Rooney is in brilliant form with 21 goals this season which could trigger an offer from Europe, with Barcelona and Real Madrid said to be interested.

But Gill told BBC 5 live Sportsweek: “Unless Alex agreed to it, we would not accept an offer, regardless of the value, for a player we want to keep.”

Gill also alleviated fears that United’s owners, the Glazer family, would sell Old Trafford or the club’s Carrington training ground.

A prospectus – circulated to potential investors prior to the club’s £504m bond issue last week suggested Carrington could be sold to a holding company controlled by the Glazer family and leased back to the club.

But Gill said: “I am 100% convinced that will never happen under Glazer ownership. The sale and leaseback within the bond document is done for financial and tax planning. Manchester United Limited continue to have complete control of Carrington.”

The bond issue allowed the club to pay off nearly all their outstanding bank debts of £509m, although the debts of the club’s parent firm, Red Football Joint Venture, rose to £716.5m in the year to June 2009.

While the club now faces an annual interest bill of £45m a year, Gill said the club has no financial reasons to sell their prized assets, including Rooney, who is enjoying his best form for United since his £25m move from Everton in 2004.

“Wayne has a contract through until 2012,” said Gill. “He has gone on record to say he wants to stay and we want him to stay. I’m sure that will be addressed in the close season. We hope that would be the case as we want to put him on a new, long-term contract. He’s 24 and got the best years of his life ahead of him.”

Gill stressed that United’s debts of £500m are a “misconception” because the club has about £140m in cash available, over half of which was generated by Cristiano Ronaldo’s world record £80m transfer from United to Real Madrid last summer.

And he confirmed manager Alex Ferguson can spend all the £80m on new players, should he wish to.

“I’m sure if he needed that money, it would be spent,” said Gill. “If I went to (joint board chairman) Joel Glazer and said ‘Alex wants a particular player, can we have the money?’ The answer would be an unequivocal yes. They have demonstrated it (with Benzema).”

However, Manchester United Supporters’ Trust chief executive Duncan Drasdo said he was unsatisfied with Gill’s assurances.

“The key point here is, how much money are the Glazers putting into United versus how much they are taking out. The answer is they are putting none in and taking a hell of a lot out,” he said.