The past two seasons haven’t been the best for Manchester United fans, finishing seventh during the 2013-2014 campaign and only scraping into the top four last term, despite spending a massive £150million on new players.
Yet, club captain Wayne Rooney continued his incredible consistency in front of goal, with the England international once again reaching double digits in goals scored, a feat he has accomplished ever since joining the Red Devils from Everton back in 2004.
But last season it was tough to keep 29-year-old in your Fantasy Premier League roster, as manager Louis van Gaal deployed the player in midfield for a majority of the campaign due to the arrival of Radamel Falcao and the presence of Robin van Persie, diminishing his returns that did not justify his rather hefty 11.5 price tag.
However, that is all about to change. With the two aforementioned strikers leaving Old Trafford and United purchasing some solid central midfielders in Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger, Van Gaal has named Rooney as his main front man and the England man is expected to lead the line for the upcoming campaign in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 set-up.
Statistically, Rooney had the best conversion rate of any of Manchester United’s strikers last season, converting 15.2% of his opportunities compared to RVP’s 13.2% and Falcao’s 10.8%.
Rooney also has an amazing potential to garner assists, making the second most key passes (45) among forwards last season. He did, however, finish with only five, but it was his lowest tally since 2006 and is expected to fare much better this time around.
Rooney may also earn a fair share of set pieces and penalties, with the club captain expected to return to spot-kick duties following Van Persie’s departure to Fenerbahce. But with the signing of Memphis Depay, and now that Juan Mata is a permanent fixture in Van Gaal’s plans, the former Toffees star may be forced to share dead-ball duties.
The thing that could prove the tipping point to have Rooney in your squad is United’s opening set of fixtures. The Red Devils have a favourable run of seven games (Tottenham, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Swansea, Liverpool, Southampton and Sunderland) that give the Three Lions captain a great chance to get your squad some early points.
By the time United face Arsenal in Gameweek 8, Rooney may be the top performing forward… making his price of 10.5 suddenly seem like absolute peanuts.
Written by Football FanCast and commissioned by Fantasy Football Scout, the tips, news and views site for those who don’t just play Fantasy Football.