Wayne Rooney out for six weeks

Wayne Rooney

Rooney is struggling with a knee injury that could make him sit in the stands for six weeks

Rooney picked up the injury in the last weekend’s 2-1 loss against Sunderland on Saturday. Rooney seems to be in form since the start of the New Year and bagged seven goals in nine matches, failing to score in just three games. Moreover statistics suggest that the club score more when Rooney is playing and they win more too.

Though the 30-year-old England international completed Saturday’s match at the Stadium of Light despite the injury, he has not been included in the squad for Thursday’s Europa League match at FC Midtjylland.

“He scores a lot of goals so he is very important for us. We know that but we have to cope,” said manager Louis van Gaal.

“He’s a guy who wants to go until the end and if he’s feeling a pain he doesn’t want to go off. He wants to win. That’s a fantastic attitude but sometimes it’s also bad for his body.” the Dutchman added.

Rooney is likely to miss England’s two friendlies against Germany and Netherlands in late March, although his participation in Euro 2016, which begins on 10 June, is not thought to be in doubt.