Wayne Rooney - The gradual extinguishing of a Flame !

The one with most goals for the club and the country, the one who scored THAT bicycle kick goal in Manchester Derby, arguably the most successful English player of our Era ....he goes by the name Wayne Rooney !

Wayne Rooney signed for Manchester United from boyhood club Everton for the record signing of £25.6 million in August 2004.It was the highest fee ever paid for a player under 20 years old at that time and the rest as they call is history.

Rise of a superstar

Rooney announced his arrival in the most blockbuster way, scoring a Hattrick (and providing an assist to Bellion) at Old Trafford on his debut that too in a champions league match. These goals made Rooney the youngest player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League. With this outstanding performance he raised the bar for himself and others. 

Since then he has gone on to score 251 goals to date for Manchester United and established himself as the most prominent English stiker for the club and the country.He has been a consistent performer for United for a long time. Despite playing with strike partners like Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tevez, Berbatov, and most recently Zlatan Ibrahimovic ! he got a name for himself and have been providing assists, creating chances and scoring goals for the last 13 years. 

Who can forget his best goal in Premier League the Bicycle kick against Manchester City in 2011/12 Derby:

Decline of the captain 

From Goals scored to Assists and from Chances created to Key Passes, Wayne Rooney has declined in every key performance indicator of a forward. Though many will argue that he was moved to Midfielder's position from that of a forward but his figures as a midfielder are not encouraging either !

Some weight issues, injuries and a decline in form in the past few years saw him lose his starting place in the playing eleven of United as well as for England. As you can clearly see the stats and the decline in the KPIs mentioned in the below image:

Future

"You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain" - The Dark Knight !

There have been a lot of speculations about his future as some people think that he will still be at Manchester United for another year. However there is a group of people who dont think that he has a future in Manchester United and I agree on that. I personally feel that he has been a great servant and performer for the Club for a long time but like they say all good things come to an end , Wayne Rooney's time is over with Manchester United unless he wants to play a second fiddle to Marcus Rashford and an expected signing of a forward for the next season.

Currently, he has been linked with a return to Everton, abroad to China and MLS as well but it is to be seen that what he decides as his decisions will be highly influenced by his wife Coleen Rooney. Nobody can deny his services as United player and the stats speak for themselves but his United career is coming to an end so I would love to end his career with United on a high with Europa League Cup , in sha ALLAH !

Best of Luck , Wazza !!! You will always be remembered for your courage and efforts !