Having spent yesterday evening being honoured by the Football Writers’ Association in a function room at London’s luxury Savoy Hotel, Wayne Rooney could have been forgiven for waking up this morning expecting to find no end of sanctimonious stories detailing how much plonk he had to drink and the precise time he went to bed splashed across today’s front and back pages.

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Spared such indignity on this particular occasion, possibly on the grounds that he may well have been the least tired and emotional person present, Wayne instead got to read assorted gushing tributes following the occasion of his record-breaking 250th goal for Manchester United, as well as reports that Manchester United will not stand in his way should he decide to take Guangzou Evergrande or Beijing Guoan up on their reported offers to hose him down with £700,000 per week.

Speaking about Rooney’s future in the aftermath of Manchester United’s draw with Stoke City on Saturday, his boss at Manchester United didn’t seem particularly fussed whether the player stays at United or leaves, making the salient point that any offer from China is one worth considering. “The money is huge,” he said. “The experience can also be interesting. I know some of my colleagues think they are more important than they are and think they can interfere in the lives of other people, but I’m not that sort of guy. Everybody is responsible for their own life. I’m not critical with anyone. To be honest, in Wayne’s case, I have no idea because he has never mentioned it to me.” José Mourinho, ladies and gentlemen - a man who’s never critical with anyone.

Rooney was non-committal about his own future at last night’s soiree, saying he was happy enough at United for the time being even if he considers the life of a substitute kicking his heels on the bench to be no life at all. “Football is a strange game,” he said. “Anything can happen and things change very quickly but I am happy at Manchester United. Of course, as I have said before, I want to play more games. I am in a happy place, a good moment personally, so I think I have a year, with an option [of a] year to go. We will see what happens and what happens after that.”

Having begun his career in the red and white stripes of Sheffield United, Phil Jagielka will end it in similar attire if Sunderland get their way. The 34-year-old Everton stalwart has started just two games for his club since their defeat at the hands of Southampton in November and was sent off in one of them, a win over Arsenal at Goodison Park in mid-December. With Everton reportedly keen on signing Branislav Ivanovic from Chelsea, the man they call “Jags” could play out his dotage with his former manager David Moyes ... or whoever takes over from the Scot at the Stadium of Light whenever he quits in exasperation at the futility of life at the Premier League’s most dysfunctional club.



Having already made his way out of Goodison Park, 22-year-old winger Gerard Deulofeu was pictured last night arriving in Italy, where he is just a couple of coughs for the doctor away from signing for AC Milan.

The Star say Manchester United will decide this week whether or not to bring Benfica’s Swedish defender Victor Lindelöf to Old Trafford sooner rather than later. The 22-year-old was expected to sign for the club come season’s end, but with £45.7m of money generated from the sales of Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis burning a hole in his pocket, Mourinho may try to get the deal wrapped up before the transfer window slams shut tomorrow week.

Having previously underwhelmed at both West Ham and QPR, the Fiorentina striker Mauro Zárate is on his way to Watford for £2.3m. The Argentinian midfielder hasn’t started a Serie A game yet this season and has made just nine cameo appearances for La Viola, scoring four goals and picking up one red card.

That click-clacking of castanets you can hear is the lazy, stereotypical Rumour Mill soundtrack to reports from Spain suggesting Manchester United and Chelsea are both considering €200m bids to try and lure Gareth Bale from Real Madrid back to the Premier League. Considerably less credible reports from Spain say Arsenal will offer Juventus Alexis Sanchez in exchange for Miralem Pjanić and a big bag of money. Unless the Chilean stamps his foot and refuses to stay at the Emirates, it’s difficult to see why Arsenal would be interested in letting him go to Turin.

The relegation of Goncalo Guedes to Benfica’s bench this weekend has got tongues wagging, not least because Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain are going toe-to-toe in their attempts to sign the £26m-rated Jorge Mendes chattel. Meanwhile at Hull City, Lazar Markovic has been mooted as a possible signing having failed to impress at his parent club Liverpool or out loan on Sporting Lisbon.

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