Wayne Rooney hints he’ll leave Manchester United, but it’s obvious when he should have left

Wayne Rooney has hinted that he could leave Manchester United in the summer.

Rooney lost his place for Jose Mourinho's team earlier this season, and looks unlikely to ever regain it. Despite being only 31, the United captain is in obvious decline. Rooney has been asked about his future at Old Trafford, and while he said he wants to remain with United, he also wants to play first-team football. "Would I like to stay? I've been at this club 13 years, but I want to play football," Rooney told the Guardian.

"Here? Of course. I think football changes. You have different challenges in your career."

If Rooney does leave United this summer, he'll do so as the club's record scorer, with 252 goals in 554 games. He won five Premier League titles, three League Cups, the Champions League and the FA Cup. A great career, but there will also be a sense of disappointment that his career appeared to fizzle out before turning 30. And, in truth, if Rooney leaves United this summer, it'll four years after he actually should have left. Sir Alex Ferguson made some mistakes near the end of his time at Old Trafford, but he was right about Rooney. Ferguson appeared to have made up his mind about Rooney in 2012, when he bought Robin van Persie from Arsenal. The signing was proof that he didn't see Rooney as a centre-forward, the position Rooney considered to be his best and where he played the best football of his career during the 2009/10 season. The other inclination of how Ferguson viewed Rooney came in the spring of 2013, when he played him on the right side of midfield for the Champions League last 16 tie against Real Madrid. The England captain was tasked with providing cover for Rafael and failed. He also made a lame attempt to close down the cross for Cristiano Ronaldo's goal. In the return leg at Old Trafford, Rooney was on the bench. Ferguson couldn't trust him to help his teammates in the number 10 position or on the right side when out of possession, and he had a superior centre-forward in Van Persie. Nani, who replaced Rooney, scored before being harshly sent-off and Danny Welbeck suffocated Xabi Alonso when the Real Madrid playmaker had the ball. The United manager's plan had worked perfectly, and it didn't include Rooney. The pair fell out and it looked as though Rooney would, like Ferguson, leave Old Trafford that summer. Then David Moyes arrived. The former Everton manager got an awful lot wrong at United, and his first mistake was to not sell Rooney. He could have weakened Chelsea, who bid for the forward, instead of lumping his team with a player in decline on a massive five and a half year contract. All United fans got in return for that contract was a front row seat to the inevitable decline of a once great player. Over the last four years, Rooney lost the sharpness to play as a striker, the energy to play in a number 10 position and showed that there's more to playing in central midfield than spraying cross field passes. His first touch completely deserted him. And, until Mourinho became manager, United were trying to accommodate him despite the fact Rooney was merely lumbering around the pitch, getting in the way. Rooney should leave and try play regularly, but it's unclear where he can go. Would he get a game for Everton? Could a team lower down the Premier League afford his wages? And would he thrive in MLS? The answer to all three questions is: 'No'. China seems like the best bet for Rooney, but wherever he goes, it'll be four years after he should have left Old Trafford.