Rooney feels transition at Man United has lasted longer than expected, hopeful of revival under Ten Hag

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney feels the transition at the iconic Premier League club since the retirement of Alex Ferguson has taken longer than expected, but said he was hopeful of the ‘Red Devils’ returning to its glory days under current manager Erik Ten Hag. The club has been charting a steady rise since the appointment of Dutch manager Ten Hag, who replaced former United forward Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after the latter was sacked from the job in November last year. United currently are fifth on the Premier League points table and boosted their hopes of returning to the Champions League next season by beating Nottingham Forest 3-0 in their first fixture after the World Cup break. “I feel with Ten Hag that they are on a good step and they gradually can go back to what it was of the old and it would be difficult of course, you can’t replace one of the, if not the greatest manager of all time,” Rooney was quoted as saying in an exclusive interaction in Home of Heroes on Sports18. “I think they’ve gone through a transition and it maybe lasted a lot longer than what we all thought,” added the 37-year-old. Rooney joined United from Everton in 2004 at the age of 19 and would go on to make 559 appearances in a 13-year stint at the club — the first nine years of which came under legendary coach Alex Ferguson’s tenure. Rooney, who represented England in three FIFA World Cups, remains the club’s highest goal-scorer of all time with 253 goals, four more than Bobby Charlton. The former England international also heaped praise on current Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate, during whose reign the team reached the semi-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the final of the Euro 2020. “Gareth is doing a great job of being flexible with the players. He’s promoting a lot of youth, a lot of players in those from youth ultimately are on the 21-member team as well,” added Rooney, who currently manages DC United in Major League Soccer and is focussed on being a club manager at the moment. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News ,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.