Real Madrid to offer Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney escape route from English press - report

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Real Madrid president Florentino Perez could be set to offer Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney an escape route out of English football by tabling a massive offer for the striker, reports suggest.

The Sun has commented that the 24-year-old has grown tired of the press attention he receives in England, in the wake of recent allegations regarding his relationship with a prostitute, and also previous photographs of Rooney smoking and drinking heavily.

The former Everton striker has little over 18 months to run on his current deal at Old Trafford, but contract negotiations have yet to commence, and Madrid supremo Perez could be set to hijack the renewal by enticing Rooney to the Spanish capital.

Coach Jose Mourinho has expressed his desire to bring another striker to the Bernabeu, and is also unsure of the credentials of Karim Benzema to be a success in the Primera Division after a difficult debut year.

If a deal could be struck where Benzema could be offloaded and the enigmatic attacker added in a cash-plus-player deal, Mourinho may see this as a dream solution.

The Red Devils’ owners, the Glazer family, could be encouraged to sell should the offer be substantial enough, given their own current financial difficulties.

Meanwhile, AS reports that Jose Mourinho is in the hunt for a new striker as he feels there is not sufficient competition in the squad for Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema.

Mourinho recently commented to the publication: “With another forward, if [Karim] Benzema or [Gonzalo] Higuain are injured, I could look to the bench and see solutions, and I cannot play both at once because if one is injured in the fifth minute, I have no one spare.”

More potential targets for Madrid include Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor, who faces a battle for first team football at Eastlands, Bayern Munich’s Mario Gomez or young Anderlecht prospect Romelu Lukaku.

Chelsea’s Didier Drogba and Wolfsburg’s Bosnian international Edin Dzeko have also previously been linked with the club.