Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight

Then again, who would? Is Wayne Rooney, the Boy Who Could Be King, picking up a crown of gold or a crown of thorns? The Cup of Life or the poisoned chalice? Because the line between success and failure is thin to the point of being indistinguishable — but worth a lifetime’s reputation and millions of pounds.

To understand that, it’s essential to know why Manchester United have forked out 27 million pounds ($48 million) for an 18-year-old. Not to score goals; Alan Smith is doing the job right now, with Saha yet to find his touch and Van Nistelrooy yet to recover from his injury. Rooney’s profile is rather more complex: he is expected to light the touchpaper that will rekindle the Manchester United of old (specifically, of 1999, their last really good year).

Alex Ferguson is looking to Wayne Rooney, through a combination of swagger, style, bravado, unpredictability and a genius waiting to be tapped, to lift his team out of their most lacklustre spell since the late 1980s. It is not an impossible job, one player can make a difference. That’s what Eric Cantona famously did at United in 1992, what Alan Shearer did at Blackburn in 1994-5 and, arguably, Thierry Henry at Arsenal last season.

But Rooney is only 18. And, while his potential is without doubt, as is his footballing brain, his maturity — such as it is — will be severely tested. He has, at Euro 2004, shown himself possessed of a vast footballing appetite for the big stage. That is what United will offer him but there’s a difference to being the junior star in a team that has the likes of Owen and Beckham and being the centrepiece of a team of heavyweights.

But Rooney didn’t join United just for the money, nor even for the chance to play lead role in the Theatre of Dreams (though they were compelling reasons); he also switched across Lancashire to play under Ferguson. The United manager has an unmatched history of nurturing rough talent, polishing diamonds, as it were. Cantona, Beckham, Giggs, Keane have all benefited from his paternal handling, good cop and bad cop in one.

Rooney would be his biggest challenge yet and, if all goes well, possibly Ferguson’s last and greatest success. It’s a big If: Rooney bears too many similarities to his boyhood hero, Paul Gascoigne, who had all the talent and saw it dissipate in dive bars and watering holes (and in the depths of close friend and chief hanger-on Jimmy Five-Bellies). It would be oh so easy for Wazza to follow Gazza; Ferguson alone stands in the way.

What this means immediately is that United are back on level terms vis-a-vis swashbuckling Arsenal and cautious Chelsea. Seven points adrift but holding one ace; if Rooney doesn’t bend under the pressure, it should be the trump card.

‘Man U the only team for me’

LONDON: Wayne Rooney says Manchester United were the only team he wanted to join once they he knew the club were interested in him. “Once I knew that Man U were in for my signature there was only one place I was going to go,” Rooney told a news conference in Manchester on Wednesday. “I’m very excited because of the players they’ve got here, it’s unbelievable the team they’ve got and their fans all over the world, so hopefully I can come into the team and do well.”

United manager Alex Ferguson said he believed Rooney would be fit to play in two to three weeks and was due to have another scan on Thursday. “It was difficult because I’ve supported Everton all my life and I’ve been playing for Everton for two years so it made it even more difficult… but then I want to further my career and go and play in the Champions League.” (Reuters)