Paris Saint-Germain reportedly tell Wayne Rooney to 'name his price'

According to a report by the Daily Express, Paris Saint-Germain have told Wayne Rooney to 'name his price' on the terms of a contract if he were to make a move away from Manchester United -- this supposedly means the French champions would even be willing to pay him £300,000 a week after tax. The Englishman currently has two years remaining on his United contract and he's thought to be making about £250,000 a week (if not more).

Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that Rooney put in a transfer request near the end of the recent season (his supposed second such request in a three-year span), though the player's camp somewhat denies this. After the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer of 2009, United were a side built around Rooney for three seasons. However, the last summer saw the arrival of Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa at Old Trafford, and thus, the club was no longer so reliant on their former talisman. In addition, the Englishman's form has become increasingly mercurial in recent seasons.

If the details of this report are true, then United would be foolish to not seriously consider a transfer fee in the region of £30 million. When you consider his current contract, which amounts to about £26 million in wages over the next two years, that means the club could save about £56 million on such a sale. Also, PSG might be the only club willing to acquire Rooney at such a price since financial constraints limits such a move to only a handful of clubs.

Had Rooney come off a season where his form was on the same level as the run-in of the 2010-11 season when he was genuinely a world-class No.10 for a few months, or when he was a lethal goalscoring No.9 during the 2009-10 campaign, then United probably wouldn't (and perhaps shouldn't) even consider such a sale. However, he's no longer that player and his petulance has become tiresome to many. In addition, the 27-year-old's sell-on value will never be higher than it is now because of his age and the number of years currently remaining on his contract.

Even for Rooney's sake, a move elsewhere -- preferably abroad from a United perspective -- might be in his best interests so that he can perhaps clear his head and get a fresh start. Paris obviously isn't that far from the north-west of England so he could still regularly see his young family. Also, the French capital isn't exactly a terrible place to live either. Furthermore, the club has clear ambitions to become one of Europe's elite.

David Moyes has publicly stated that he's keen on keeping Rooney at Old Trafford, However, no matter what his stance on the matter is privately, he wouldn't say anything different publicly for a plethora of reasons. Perhaps it would be best for the new United manager to rid the club of their inconsistent attacker so that he can hand Shinji Kagawa the No.10 role while raising substantial funds for his own transfer kitty.