Vadim Vasilyev, vice-president of AS Monaco and the closest adviser to the Russian billionaire owner Dmitry Rybolovlev, has given the strongest indication yet that the club still hope to sign Wayne Rooney only months after the England captain agreed a 5½-year, £300,000-a-week deal at Manchester United.
“One year ago, we were discussing one of the top players of the Premier League, a top English player,” Vasilyev said. “But it was on the table. This opportunity finally did not happen, but I think one day that it will come, that it will happen.”
Monaco are understood to have been on the cusp of signing Rooney during last year’s summer transfer window, with the offer of a tax-free wage deal, before the striker ended months of conjecture in February by committing his long-term future to Old Trafford.
Since then, Monaco’s ambitions of becoming a major force in European football have stalled, with their former marquee player Falcao moving on loan to United and Colombian World Cup star James Rodríguez completing a £60 million switch to Real Madrid.
Rybolovlev, reeling from a punitive bill to resolve Monaco’s tax dispute with clubs in mainland France as well as a divorce costing him £2.7 billion from ex-wife Elena, has ordered a squeeze on spending at the club this season, Telegraph informs.
