Transfer Balls: Wayne Rooney vows to stay at Manchester United in a sit-down stand-off

WAYNE Rooney Transfer Balls: Will the Manchester United and England striker be leaving Old Trafford? Anorak’s round-up the news in the media over the past 24 hours:

Let’s kick off with the Daily Star, which keeps up its daily scoops with a question:

Have Wayne Rooney and David Moyes been involved in a stand-off over their imminent Manchester United talks?

Dunno. But this follows scoops that Moyes and Rooney met on Tuesday (Daily Mail) and Wednesday (The Guardian).

Today the Guardian reports:

It is unclear whether the player and David Moyes were able to sit down on Wednesday to discuss his future, but United are relaxed about the issue and in no rush to resolve it.

A sit-down stand-off? Can it be possible?

The Mirror says they have met. It knows what was discussed:

While Rooney would prefer to play in a central striking role for the Old Trafford giants, he has told Moyes he is happy to play a team role either wide in a three-man forward line or at the front of midfield if required.

But that, it turns out, was the chatter during a “secret meeting”. It’s not the one referred to by the Mail, Star and Guardian. Of that meeting the Mirror says:

England striker Rooney will have a second round of talks with boss David Moyes within the next 48 hours, after both men laid out their positions in a secret meeting recently. And Rooney’s fate will be decided by how he reacts to a meeting over a meal between Moyes and the player’s advisors…

Will Rooney swallow it? Will he spit chunks?

Hold the Pot Noodles. The Sun says that meeting happened yesyerday:

WAYNE ROONEY has arrived at Carrington for showdown talks with new Manchester United boss David Moyes.

The Mail agrees:

Wayne Rooney held showdown talks with new boss David Moyes about his future at Manchester United on Wednesday morning.

The 27-year-old didn’t look overly pleased as he drove into United’s training base in his Range Rover at around 9.30am for the first day of pre-season training.

He met with manager Moyes to discuss his future after a breakdown in communications with Sir Alex Ferguson last season. Rooney eventually left Carrington at 12.45pm

Or as Fox News says:

Wayne Rooney and David Moyes have yet to meet face to face over his Manchester United future

The Sun says the meeting is an irrelevance:

Boss David Moyes will assess the player’s fitness, attitude and application during a punishing five-match pre-season tour of Australia and the Far East.

He will. Moyes will assess the fitness, attitude and application of his entire squad. That’s one point of the tour. The other is to flog shirts. But the Sun says Rooney should just leave:

A SunSport Twitter debate on the subject yesterday saw the majority of fans who took part happy to see Rooney go.

But Rooney doesn’t want to go. The Express says:

Wayne Rooney: Tell Manchester United fans I did not ask for transfer

Rooney is understood to be ready to tell new boss David Moyes when they meet for talks today that he wants to remain at Old Trafford, but is concerned there might be a backlash from fans after Ferguson claimed he had asked to leave at the end of last season.

So. The talks are today. And Rooney isn’t going anywhere. There will no thrashing out. It’s a done deal.

Or as the Mail reports:

Wayne Rooney will have to submit a written transfer request if he wants to leave Manchester United. The Old Trafford forward returned to training on Wednesday with his future still up in the air. It is understood he did not have a specific meeting with new manager David Moyes about his situation.

Is that the same Daily Mail that said they held “showdown talks”?