Wayne Rooney has delivered a damning verdict on Manchester United after claiming they have been in decline for more than a decade.
Rooney even insists it was a “miracle” they won their last Premier League title in 2013 and it was because Robin van Persie “carried the team.”
The United legend, the club’s record goalscorer, says the rot set in after they sold Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez – and they have been going downhill ever since.
Rooney, who famously had a public spat with Sir Alex Ferguson in 2010 after questioning their transfer policy, said: “You could see after 2011; Ronaldo left in 2009, Tevez left and after that you could see it was going to go backwards before it can move forwards.
“That’s what I could see and that’s why I was asking the questions. Unfortunately, they probably still haven’t recovered from that to this day.
“It wasn’t a great team in 2013. For us to win that League title was a miracle, really, I think.
“A massive part of it was Van Persie. I think him coming in gave everyone a lift, coming in at number nine, scoring the goals he scored.
“That was a bit of a masterstroke from the manager, to bring him in and have him hungry because he was a bit older as well. He really carried us that season.”
