Don Hutchinson is backing Newcastle to sign Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney in the summer.
Writing in his column for the Chronicle, the former West Ham, Everton and Sunderland player says that although he thinks it will be difficult to land England’s all time top goalscorer, he would like the Magpies to show the 31 year old the club’s ambitions by targeting other high profile signings:
“Wayne would be the sort of stellar signing who could attract others to join. If he was to stall it might be a case of saying, ‘Wait a month and see what else we bring in,’ then buy some other quality players on the understanding that Wayne would be joining too.”
Hutchinson cites Daryl Murphy as an example of how manager Rafa Benitez has been able to persuade owner Mike Ashley to purchase older players, but the big difference between the Republic of Ireland international and Rooney, in addition to the difference in quality, is the United’s star’s huge wage demands.
Newcastle’s wage structure would have to be smashed to have a chance of attracting Rooney to the club. The striker is currently on £300,000 a week which is far more than any other player at the Magpies currently.
