WAS ROONEY RIGHT TO REQUEST A TRANSFER?

The story on everyone's lips this week has been the dramatic events unfolding at Old Trafford. But was it really of much as a surprise as people think?

It is important to remember that Rooney has achieved pretty much everything he can at Manchester United. In six seasons at the club he has won three league titles, three League Cups and played in two Champions League final's (winning one of them).

While he has not won the FA Cup, he has played in two finals and has experienced a cup final with United at Wembley. Is there really anything more he needs to prove behind the theatre of dreams?

The England striker - who turns 25 today, is in a different position from what some of his team mates have been in previously. Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs have been at the club since they were barely out of primary school. But Rooney doesn't share the emotional attachment with United that players who have come through the youth set up understandably do.

He also, quite openly, doesn't 'bleed the red of Manchester' like a David Beckham or a Darren Fletcher. Rooney is still very much an Everton fanatic and less than two years ago, in fact, it is reported that Rooney was at Wembley supporting his former club being narrowly defeated by Chelsea in the FA Cup final.

Despite being quoted in the very recent past, stating that he categorically wished to remain at Old Trafford for the rest of his career, maybe he actually meant Manchester - the city of Manchester. A big money move to Manchester City in the new year is still a possibility in my view, despite 'our Wayne' signing a new contract today. And despite, what appears on the surface as ruthless case of brinkmanship, I still believe all is not well with the forward, both on and off the pitch.

Rooney has probably (and quite understandably, considering his profile) become disillusioned watching every major star leave the once hallowed environment of the prawn sandwich brigade's club. In the last 18 months, he has seen Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez depart Old Trafford within days of each other. And he has underwhelmingly seen them replaced with Bebe, an ageing and still injury prone Michael Owen, and a talented, but very raw Javier Hernandez.

Of course, we have seen this before from Ferguson and his almost un-parellelled ability to nurture raw, young players into damn good team players or even world superstars. But have we actually, in reality, seen it as much in recent years?

Ferguson's development of youngsters has nearly always been supplemented with a major big money signing. However, who was the last really major signing the club actually made. Does Owen Hargreaves count? And he hasn't played for over two years.

There been other mixed bags. Anderson has clearly not lived up to his early potential, and Michael Carrick - while still only 29- seems to have completely gone off the boil. There is Nani, who, after a really poor first couple of seasons, has been in terrific form over the last six months,. But will the Portuguese winger really go on to become a world beater? Will Darren Gibson go to become another Roy Keane?

Another question that needs to be asked is will Antonio Valencia recover sufficiently well enough from his serious knee injury to continue his very impressive and rapid progress? And then there is the goalkeeper. As good as Edwin Van de Sar has been and still is (most of the time, 40 is a watershed age for a keeper, and he has reached it. Who is going to replace him? Ben Foster was a disaster and their doesn't appear to be any obvious candidates waiting in the wings,

They are all un-answered questions, but obviously issues that Rooney fears (or feared) will continue to stagnate the club's progress without new investment.

Maybe the Liverpool born player fears that Sir Alex will not be around at the club to over-look the development of these talents. Or maybe he just wanted the chance - as most of us anticipated - to earn the really huge money he is able to before his body (already beginning to show the effects of him bursting onto the scene at such a young age) declines in front of his own and our eyes.

I've heard some people suggest, foolishly perhaps, that Fergie is over the hill, and is beginning to lose touch with the modern footballer. This is certainly not something I would accuse the great man of. After all, he has dealt with Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, David Beckham and Christiano Ronaldo in the past, and dealt with them brilliantly. Beckham and Ronaldo in particular, are/were the ultimate breed of modern footballer and Sir Alex certainly guided them through some of their greatest triumphs.

But despite Rooney's change of heart, it is plain to see that the United manager is unable to exert such influence over both his players and the overall running of the club that he used to. The club are in serious debt, through no fault of his own of course, and he is probably unable to make the sort of cut throat decisions that he has become renowned for.

The Scot probably has to run over every decision with the Glazers across the pond first, and by then the whole kudos and ethos of the decision has probably been lost. He certainly appeared more downcast about this particular saga then at any other time I've seen him. Even the Eric Cantona kung fu episode back in 1995 didn't seem to leave him with such a negative view.

Roman Abramovich altered the whole dynamic of English football when he took over the reigns at Chelsea in the summer of 2003. The Russian created an un-precedented snowball effect of hugely rich foreign businessmen investing into the Premier League market. Who would have thought, even three years ago, that Manchester City would be able to offer players such as Wayne Rooney three or four times the salary they would be able to get at Old Trafford. It's actually quite surreal when you think about it.

Sir Alex will turn 70 next December and this may well turn out to be the last straw, despite Rooney's change of heart. At his age, it may just be beyond him to build another great side.

And despite the surprise u-turn, the tide certainly appears to be turning towards the blue side of Manchester as we begin a new decade.

The wages Chelsea were offering back in 2003 were one thing, but the Manchester City owners from Abu Dhabi have an endless pit of funds even within the face of a fierce financial crisis. Maybe Fergie should call it a day now, or all of his quarter century of hardwork may well be lost in the blue mist of Eastlands.

Watch this space. January could be an interesting month..