England star did not want to operate in midfield at Old Trafford.
Unsettled Manchester United front man Wayne Rooney has revealed that he did ask to leave the Premier League champions towards the backend of the previous season, according to reports in the Daily Mail.
The England international had a falling out with previous Red Devils head coach Sir Alex Ferguson, who left Old Trafford at the end of the last campaign, with the Scot claiming that Rooney had handed in a transfer request, although the player himself had always denied this version of events.
However, Rooney has now confirmed Ferguson’s side of the story, explaining that it was his manager’s decision to continuously play him out of position in the north west that eventually forced his hand.
Rooney spent large parts of last season being utilised in an unfamiliar central midfield position so as to enable Ferguson to operate new signing Robin van Persie as a solitary central striker at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’, with the Englishman’s form being affected as a result.
Consequently, the 27-year-old managed to find the back of the net on a total of 16 occasions in 37 matches for United in all competitions in the previous campaign, including just 12 strikes in his 27 Premier League outings.
“I didn’t feel like I got a consistent run of games up front,” said Rooney. “I actually felt when I played in midfield I did OK, but I didn’t want to play there.
“Everyone at the club knew that’s where I wanted to play (up front) and that’s why I was disappointed because I got told to play in midfield and I didn’t want to. But I’d always go in and try to help the team, so I think there had to come a point where for my own career I had to be a bit selfish.
“In the past I’ve had no problem playing out of position, but I felt I deserved to play in my position, which wasn’t happening. Naturally I was disappointed and maybe that affected some of the games I played. Maybe when I’m a bit older, losing my legs a bit, I can go back there (to midfield).
“There’s been a lot of stuff happening and people waiting for me to say whatever, but I’ve spoken to the people who matter at the club and we’ve known ourselves what we’re doing. I’m sure the club made that clear. I didn’t want to come out saying anything. I wanted to just concentrate on my football. That’s what I’ve done and that’s what I’ll continue to do.
“I’m not going to go around saying I wanted to stay or I wanted to leave. I’ll concentrate on my football and see what happens after that.
“You can see I’m playing and I’m happy in my football. I’ll have more discussions with the club and we’ll see what happens from there. I just want to prove to people what a good player I am.”