Soccer news: Wayne Rooney's aspirations of playing in the World Cup have significantly suffered with the news he is suffering complications in his rehabilitation from a broken metatarsal.
Doctors treating the injury believe he will not be fit in time and a concerned Sven-Goran Eriksson has brought forward the striker's next scan to June 7th so, if there is further bad news, he will have time to promote Jermain Defoe from the standby list.
The reason for the pessimism is Rooney's double fracture is close to the tarsometatarsal joint of his foot which, according to Manchester United, makes it "an injury which takes longer to heal". Such a disclosure would not have been made lightly at Old Trafford and Eriksson seemed far more downbeat than usual after emerging from a breakfast meeting with Alex Ferguson and the club's doctor, Tony Gill.
Plan B is now being considered. Rooney was initially scheduled to fly out to Germany with the squad next Monday before returning to Manchester for more tests on June 14th. The problem for Eriksson was that, with the tournament under way, he would not have been allowed to call up a replacement, meaning England could have gone through the tournament with only three strikers in Michael Owen, Peter Crouch and the 17-year-old Theo Walcott. By bringing forward the next hospital visit Eriksson has the option of including Defoe before Fifa's deadline for registering players two days later.
"It was my request because we have to give Fifa our list on June 9th and after that we can't change anything," said Eriksson. "They [ United] understood. They have accepted it's a fair request because, if we wait until June 14th [ and Rooney is ruled out], I can't do anything after that."
Eriksson insisted he was still "optimistic" but admitted that his confidence was not based on medical evidence. "I'm not a doctor but sometimes you just have a feeling and mine is that he will play."
The hard facts, however, are that Rooney has only 10 days for his foot to make the "complete recovery" Ferguson has insisted upon as a prerequisite for him joining the squad. However, if the next scan shows considerable signs of improvement, Eriksson will be entitled to include Rooney and request another on June 14th.
Exasperated by the focus on one player, the England coach concluded by announcing he would not answer any more questions about Rooney until his next scan.
Defoe is expected to be invited to join the squad in Germany while Rooney carries on his fitness work at United's training ground. Andrew Johnson, the second striker on standby, may also be asked to travel with the squad. Johnson will complete his £8.5 million transfer from Crystal Palace to Everton today after a medical yesterday.
AC Milan are contemplating a move for Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy as a replacement for Chelsea-bound Andriy Shevchenko.
"Van Nistelrooy is the man we want," an AC Milan spokesman said. "He is one of the few players in the world who could replace Sheva."
Van Nistelrooy, who has scored 150 goals in 200 starts for United in five years at Old Trafford, has said he will not make any decisions about his future until after the World Cup.
Former rally driver Carlos Sainz is hoping to lure Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger to Real Madrid, if he wins the club's presidential election on July 2nd.
Sainz has launched a joint-bid with Juan Miguel Villar Mir and he admits their plans include approaching Wenger with a view to taking over at the club. Villar Mir would take the role of president, with Sainz as vice-president.
Asked if he had approached Wenger, Sainz said: "We are in the process of doing that. We want a complete overhaul of the whole club."
Middlesbrough's chairman Steve Gibson is drawing up a Plan C in case Martin O'Neill turns down the manager's job. O'Neill has spoken to Boro several times, but his desire to be close to his wife as she battles cancer is a big factor.
Boro have talked to former Charlton manager Alan Curbishley.
