Five landmarks in Rooney’s sights for club and country.
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It’s a big season for Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney. The 28-year-old has already been named captain of his club and country in the last couple of months, and there will be big pressure on his shoulders to reach some new heights after an already-great career.
Despite not quite being at his very best form in recent times, Rooney is a highly influential performer and has already staked his claim as one of the all-time Premier League greats. Still, he can reach five more impressive landmarks this season, with appearances and goals records in his sights for the new campaign…
1) 100 England caps
Currently on 96 appearances for England, Wayne Rooney can join an elite club and reach 100 caps for the Three Lions if he makes just four more appearances for the national side. With a Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland coming up next week, Rooney will surely start and make it 97 caps, and there will likely be many more opportunities for him to reach the golden landmark in the next few months. Only eight other players have reached a century for England, which would confirm Rooney’s status as among the country’s greats, having made his debut for the senior team all the way back in 2003, when he was still just 17 years old.
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2) Thierry Henry’s Premier League goals record
A record that should go fairly quickly, Wayne Rooney needs just two goals to move ahead of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry in the all-time Premier League goalscoring charts. The French forward is currently the highest-placed foreign player on the list, coming in third place with 175 goals during his time in the English top flight. Rooney is on 174 and it shouldn’t take him long to score two more to move ahead of Henry and make another piece of Premier League history in the process.
3) Andrew Cole’s Premier League goals record
Depending on Rooney’s goalscoring form this season, he could realistically be in with a chance of overtaking Andrew Cole in the Premier League goalscoring charts as well. Former United star Cole, whose goals also came in spells for the likes of Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City, is currently on 188 strikes, meaning Rooney would need at least fifteen more goals this season to move in front of him, which would mean only Newcastle legend Alan Shearer would be above him in the list, with a sensational 260 goals that will take some superhuman feat to break.
4) Denis Law’s league goals record
In the Manchester United history books, Rooney can also move in front of the legendary Denis Law in terms of league goals for the Red Devils. Law scored 171 league goals for the club in his tremendous Old Trafford career, meaning Rooney can overtake him if he scoresd 13 more in the English top flight this term. This is certainly an achieveable feat, though the 28-year-old can be somewhat unpredictable in front of goal, scoring only 12 league goals back in 2012/13, and only 11 as recently as 2010/11.
5) Denis Law’s total Manchester United goals record
If he really has a good season in front of goal, Wayne Rooney can also move up to second place in Manchester United’s all-time top goalscorers list. With Denis Law’s league goals record in his sights, Law’s overall goals record could also be beaten if Rooney manages to find the back of the net 21 more times this term. Rooney is currently on 217 goals in all competitions for United, and although it may be a tad unrealistic for this season, he is also closing on on United’s all-time leading scorer Bobby Charlton, who scored 249 times for the Red Devils.
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