Manchester United Skipper Wayne Rooney equalled the club’s goal scoring record which has stood for almost 41 years against Reading in the FA Cup on Saturday. Sir Bobby Charlton netted 249 times for the Reds between 19&& and 1973 and none of United best players, including Cristiano Ronaldo has come close to breaking that record.
Rooney had endured a mixed campaign so far, including being relegated to the bench. The England captain has found first team action hard to come by following the summer arrival of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a loss of form which was unnecessarily hyped by the English media.
The 31-year-old was at the centre of the almost everything on Saturday at old Trafford, dictating the game in a way reminiscence of the old Rooney the club’s faithful have longed for.
And despite all that his goal against Reading, which was only his fourth of the season put him as joint scorer with Sir Charlton and he is expected to exceed that. He has also overtaken Ruud van Nistelrooy to become Manchester United’s top goalscorer in European competition with 39 goals. His current deal ends in the summer of 2019 and it includes a clause granting him an extra season if he so desires.
Rooney is also the top scorer for England with 53 goals breaking Sir Charlton’s record also in 2015. Should he become the United all time leading scorer, it may take a longer time for it to be broken. The closest scorers to Rooney have either retired or left.
Going down the memory lane all the top 50 scorers are no more playing for the club and none of the present crop of players have scored up to 100 50 goals yet. Rooney has gradually becomes United cult hero and his records may last longer before being broken than Sir Charlton’s record.