Rooney’s profile has rocketed since he became the youngest player ever to score in the European Championship with his two-goal haul during England’s 3-0 win over Switzerland last Thursday, which added fuel to the transfer speculation. But Birch insisted: “It’s all conjecture. The definitive position is that he is not for sale. You don’t sell your best players. Ask any chief executive or manager and they will tell you the same thing. If someone is saying they will pay £100m, then of course you are going to think about it, but we’re not in that position. It is complete speculation.”
Until Birch’s comments, Everton were believed to be resigned to losing Rooney, but manager David Moyes confirmed last night: “I don’t see anyone from Wayne’s side, or anyone from Everton’s side, saying anything about him being transferred and yet there is endless speculation. Everton have been going through hard times and my aim is to improve them with Wayne Rooney’s help.”
The Merseyside club are £30m in debt, leaving Moyes with no money to strengthen his team. Contract negotiations between Rooney and Everton are understood to be on hold until after Euro 2004. His current contract, worth £13,000 a week, expires in two years’ time.
Only Chelsea would be able to entertain a transfer fee in the region of £45m for an exciting but as yet unproven talent. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, while known to be keen on Rooney, would not be able to justify that sort of money to his board. However, sources at Stamford Bridge also ruled out a bid for Rooney at such a price last night. “Even Zinedine Zidane didn’t change hands for that sort of money, ” said an insider.
One player expected to move from Merseyside to Chelsea after the tournament is Steven Gerrard, for a fee of about £30m. Although no formal agreement has been signed, sources indicate that the midfielder has agreed to leave Anfield, despite meeting Liverpool’s new manager, Rafael Benitez, at England’s Lisbon training camp on Friday.