United send Rooney on transatlantic recovery mission

ALEX FERGUSON has taken the unprecedented step of sending Wayne Rooney to America for a week of extensive conditioning work to get him away from the glare of publicity.

It is the second time this season the Manchester United boss has broken with tradition to protect his star striker, having kept him out of the September meeting with former club Everton to save the 25-year-old from inevitable abuse about his personal life.

Ferguson must hope this latest intervention triggers a better reaction than the first as Rooney’s omission at Goodison Park was widely interpreted as the moment when the England forward began to get cold feet about committing his future to the Old Trafford cause.