London: Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has said that Wayne Rooney should stay at Old Trafford if he wants to win trophies.
The new Manchester United manager declares his unwillingness to lose the forward but cannot confirm that he has not asked to leave As exclusively revealed by Goal, Arsenal and Chelsea are among the teams interested in offering the unhappy striker an exit route but the 34-year-old says that he has received numerous offers during his 11 years as a Red Devil but never considered leaving because he feels that there is no club who compare.
Ferdinand cites former Cristiano Ronaldo as an example of a player who left United but then failed to recreate similar success at Real Madrid.
"I don`t see where you go better from here," the centre-back told The Guardian.
"For instance, Cristiano has been ridiculous as a football player individually but has he won more trophies since leaving than what we`ve won? That`s the way I look at it.
"I wouldn`t say that he shouldn`t have gone there; it was his dream to go there, so you have to respect that, but I just look at things in a black-and-white way: I want to win trophies so why would I leave here?
"Who am I going to go to who is going to win more trophies than us? Obviously you could say that Barcelona have won more trophies but, I`m in my country, where I`m from, you`re proud when you win the league in your country."
Ferdinand says that he will not try to convince Rooney to stay, insisting that the forward is more than capable of making up his own mind.
He declared: "When someone is at your club who has been there for the length of time he`s been there – I think this is his ninth season, so he`s more than clued up to understand the dynamics of the club and what goes on at the club - and so he`s mature enough now and old enough to make his own mind up."
The defender himself signed a one-year contract extension in May and plans to end his career at the club.
"I`d like to [finish playing at United], yeah," Ferdinand added. "I wouldn`t play for anyone else in England. I wouldn`t want to come to Old Trafford as an away player – it just wouldn`t feel right. If I played for another team, it would have to be abroad."
Goal.com
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