Manchester United is set to step up their bid to prise Wayne Rooney away from Everton after booking their place in the Champions League proper.
A 3-0 win over Dynamo Bucharest in Manchester on Wednesday put Alex Ferguson’s side into the money-spinning group stage of the tournament, guaranteeing a £15-million windfall that will help United increase an initial offer of £20-million for the England forward.
”We will just have to wait and see what Everton say,” Ferguson said, admitting that his hand had been forced by Newcastle’s surprise bid to sign Rooney before the transfer window closes at the end of this month.
”I think Newcastle making the bid probably activated the whole thing. I was hoping [to sign Rooney] but time was running out and you start to think there was no chance.
”We will discuss it tomorrow. At this stage we have made our intentions clear and that we’d like to sign the boy.”
Ferguson was reluctant to be drawn into discussion of how Rooney could strengthen his squad and the inevitable competition he will present for Alan Smith.
The former Leeds forward did a good enough job himself of demonstrating that Rooney will not be without competition for a place in the United starting line-up.
Two poacher’s goals early in the second half killed off the Romanians and went a long way towards repaying his £7-million transfer fee, a purchase that increasingly looks like the bargain of the summer.
The double took Smith’s tally since joining United to four in five games, including the season-opening Community Shield.
”He’s scored two great goals — in the Community Shield and on Saturday,” Ferguson said. ”It is good to see him getting some scrappy ones. Those are the kind of goals you like to see strikers get.”
French striker David Bellion’s well-taken 74th-minute strike completed a 3-0 win on the night that put United into Thursday’s draw for the tournament proper, 5-1 on aggregate.
Ferguson’s confidence that Dynamo would not block his side’s path to the group stage of the tournament was reflected in the make-up of his bench.
Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil Neville and Louis Saha were all kept in reserve as youngsters Chris Eagles and Jonathan Spector made their first senior starts for the club.
It was a calculated gamble that almost paid off inside the first minute, when Eagles got beyond the Dynamo back four and cut the ball back invitingly for Darren Fletcher, whose shot was deflected narrowly wide.
That bright start proved to be a misleading indicator of what was to follow, however, as United laboured to make any headway against equally uninspired opposition before finally upping their tempo in the closing stages of the opening period.
Cristiano Ronaldo, making his first start of the season after a summer spent on international duty at Euro 2004 and the Olympics, signalled the change of gear by thumping a long-range free kick into the midriff of Dorin Semeghin.
Smith was then unlucky not to put United ahead with a diving header that cannoned off the cross bar.
As if by way of consolation for that effort, Smith was presented with a close-range tap-in to put United ahead within two minutes of the restart.
Dynamo centre back Adrian Iordache was the culprit, directing Kleberson’s free kick straight to the feet of Smith. Even the linesman thought the pass must have come from a United player but his offside flag was overruled by German referee Markus Merk.
The visitors’ defence was still in disarray two minutes later when Gary Neville broke down the right and sent in a low cross that somehow managed to trickle past two defenders to the back post, where Smith swept in his third goal in two matches.
Smith departed shortly afterwards to a standing ovation from an Old Trafford crowd that has quickly taken the former Leeds striker to their hearts.
Bellion has yet to convince the United faithful that he is the genuine article but his cause will have been helped by the accomplished way he raced on to Spector’s long-ball before placing his shot into the bottom corner from just outside the area. — Sapa-AFP