Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney will be out of action for a month after sustaining a hamstring injury on the club’s tour of Asia and will miss the A-League All Stars match this Saturday.
Rooney suffered the problem during a training session and when scans showed there was no chance he would be able to play during the tour, the England star was sent home to start his rehabilitation.
“Following a scan this evening on a hamstring injury sustained in training, it has been decided Wayne Rooney should return home immediately for further assessment and rehabilitation,” United said in a statement.
The 27-year-old now faces a race against time to recover for the start of United’s Premier League title defence.
United is due to compete in the Community Shield against Wigan at Wembley on August 11 and then travel to Swansea for its league opener on August 17.
His absence is the first significant setback for United manager David Moyes and comes just hours after the champions landed in Bangkok last week.
Moyes and his squad went straight to their hotel for a short rest ahead of what turned out to be Rooney’s single training session.
The United manager had hoped to use the tour to cement his relationship with Rooney, who worked with Moyes at Everton but has reportedly been considering making a formal transfer request following his spell out of favour during Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge at Old Trafford.
Moyes has made it clear that Rooney is not for sale but there has still been no word from the player about his intentions.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Paris Saint Germain are all said to be interested in Rooney, who has two years remaining on his $413,000-a-week contract and is at a point when negotiations over an extension would normally begin.
There is also the thorny issue of Ferguson’s declaration last season that Rooney had indeed demanded a transfer, something the player has privately denied.
Moyes is already without captain Nemanja Vidic, who was a surprise absentee from the United squad when they left England last week.
