Upon his £30m switch again in the summertime of 2004, no Manchester United supporter might have imagined the massive influence Wayne Rooney would have on the membership.
The Englishman spent 13 years at Outdated Trafford, subsequently showing in 559 outings within the course of – presently sitting on the listing for the membership’s all-time look makers.
Such a time-frame allowed the ahead to succeed in phenomenal ranges with the Purple Devils, racking up a complete of 253 targets at a mean of 1 strike each 2.2 matches.
Rooney’s subsequent tally has made him their file goalscorer, with such a file nonetheless standing to at the present time and placing him forward of the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton.
His phenomenal tallies catapulted Sir Alex Ferguson’s facet to 5 Premier League titles throughout his stint within the North West, serving to make the membership one of the crucial profitable in English historical past.
Quick-forward to the current day, present boss Ruben Amorim has discovered his personal model of the fan-favourite, nevertheless it’s not within the type of one participant who many would anticipate.
Benjamin Sesko’s begin to life at United
After scoring simply 44 instances in England’s top-flight final season, it was essential United invested in touchdown a brand new talisman – with Benjamin Sesko the person chosen by the hierarchy to guide the road.
The Slovenian price a reported £74m together with add-ons from Bundesliga facet RB Leipzig, nevertheless it’s protected to say his begin in England has been a sluggish burner and brought time to blow up into life.
He failed to attain in any of his first six outings for the Purple Devils, however the 22-year-old has managed to provide the products in every of the final couple of outings.
Sesko has scored in every of his final two Premier League outings for Amorim’s facet, along with his newest strike serving to them declare a wanted victory in opposition to newly-promoted Sunderland on the Theatre of Goals.
It could be early days into his profession in England, however he’s already proven glimpses of high quality that might make him a fan-favourite for a few years to come back – probably even catapulting them to new ranges of success.
Nevertheless, he’s not the participant who might emulate Rooney at Outdated Trafford, with one different first-team member nearer to being just like the Englishman sooner or later.
Man United’s new Rooney
Of their makes an attempt to land top-level abilities, United have spent over £800m on new signings within the final 4 years to attempt to catapult themselves again up the Premier League desk.
Most of such funds have been wasted on gamers that, sadly, aren’t on the stage required for fulfillment, as seen by the membership’s Fifteenth-placed standing final marketing campaign.
Amorim was unable to extract probably the most out of the squad, which undoubtedly led to Sesko’s addition in the course of the summer time to stop such a situation from taking place as soon as once more sooner or later.
Nevertheless, he has already featured alongside Bruno Fernandes, with the Portuguese worldwide a participant who massively starred regardless of the struggles on the pitch in 2024/25.
The 31-year-old scored 19 instances and registered 18 assists throughout all competitions, with such a tally being by far and away the best of any participant within the first-team squad.
Such numbers make him just like Rooney when it comes to being the Purple Devils’ fundamental talisman, nevertheless it’s one other side of his sport which has seen him emulate the Englishman.
After the hierarchy’s £200m spending spree in the summertime, it noticed three attacking-minded gamers enter the membership, which has seen Bruno should shift roles consequently.
Fernandes, who’s been labelled “world-class” by United author Liam Canning, has since been pressured to function in a deeper midfield position, one thing which Rooney did in the course of the latter levels of his profession at Outdated Trafford.
While such a call noticed the Englishman internet fewer targets in his ultimate years, his passing skill made him an exceptional possibility in that space – with Bruno emulating such ranges, as seen by his tally of 82% of passes accomplished in 2025/26.
Bruno Fernandes – PL stats (2025/26) | |
|---|---|
Statistics (per 90) | Tally |
Video games performed | 7 |
Targets & assists | 2 |
Go accuracy | 82% |
Photographs taken | 2.3 |
Possibilities created | 2.7 |
Dribble success | 57% |
Tackles gained | 2.1 |
Recoveries made | 6.2 |
Stats by way of FotMob | |
The Portuguese worldwide could should endure when it comes to his goalscoring tallies, however his skill to dictate the play may very well be an enormous asset for Amorim’s facet within the years forward.
His passing skill may very well be essential for Sesko if the Slovenian is to be successful at Outdated Trafford, with large strain being positioned on the teenager to supply the products within the Premier League.
Nevertheless, neither participant will possible attain the cult hero standing of Rooney on the Theatre of Goals, with the supervisor undoubtedly wishing he might name upon such a participant within the current day.
