😆 The Roo corner

Plus: Manchester United's new man

February 15, 2024

GM football fans. Route One here, the football newsletter that’ll always find you when you make a darting run.

Today’s briefing is a ~4 min read:

Rooney’s boxing antics 🥊
Are Manchester United back? 🤔
Extra time: there’s no denying Baggio’s talent 🪄

Morning Brief 🗞️

Brentford have agreed a club-record deal of around £30 million to sign Brazilian forward Igor Thiago from Club Brugge. Thiago will join the club at the end of this season.

Manchester City’s prize money for winning back-to-back Champions League titles will top £100 million, with their perfect group stage results putting them on course for record earnings to retain Europe’s biggest competition.

Wolves are open to Pedro Neto departing the club in the next window as interest from Arsenal and Tottenham mount, but they will demand a club-record fee.

Tottenham forward Son injured his finger in a table tennis row with South Korea teammates.

IN THE ROO CORNER 🥊

Wayne Rooney hasn’t had the best time since he hung up his boots…

His wife took Vardy’s wife to court… we all remember the Wagatha Christie saga.
He was relegated with Derby… albeit with a 21 point-deduction.
He was sacked by Birmingham after just 15 games… ouch.

And things aren’t looking much better.

Now Wazza could be making his way to Misfits Boxing - an organisation that arranges for influencers and celebrities to fight against each other.

But, let’s be honest, this has been in the making for a long time.

1) Rooney once “jokingly” messaged Eddie Hearn to ask the promoter to set up a fight for him.

2) A video was leaked of him being knocked out… which eventually resulted in one of the most iconic Premier League celebrations of all time…

3) He joined Ricky Hatton’s ring walk in Las Vegan in 2007.

4) He asked KSI - the Misfits Boxing owner and YouTube star - for a fight in 2022.

Look, some things are written in the stars. And Rooney exploring the boxing world is just one of those things…

MANCHESTER UNITED MIGHT BE BACK 🤯

Dan Ashworth is set to sign for Manchester United next week and it’s a bigger deal than we first realised, the guy is prolific… just check out his CV:

Technical director at West Brow when they finished 10th and 11th in the Premier League.
Created England’s DNA strategy which is thought to have helped Bellingham, Foden and Saka accelerate through the England ranks.
Director of football at Brighton during their most successful period in the Premier League.
Became director of football at Newcastle and helped them reach the Champions League for the first time in 20 years.

And his achievements don’t stop there, check out his recent signings:

Credit: Sky Sports

If Ashworth joins United, it will be another big win for them off the pitch.

Their senior executive team is starting to look like an all-star roster:

Sir David Brailsford = INEOS Director of Sport.
Omar Berrada (former Manchester City) = CEO.
Dan Ashworth (former Brighton and Newcastle) = Director of Football.
Paul Mitchell (rumoured and former RB Leipzig) = Head of Recruitment.

All tribalism aside… a full-strength Manchester United on and off the pitch will be a big boost for the Premier League.

EXTRA-TIME ⏱️

Micah Richards tries his best to get a good interview out of Phil Foden. But it looks as though the in-form man is better on the pitch than with the mic.

There’s no denying that Baggio was a magician on the pitch. He could pull off tricks, flicks and passes beyond his time.

Can someone explain this one for us? We need everything: context, names and the referee’s decision.

Alan Shearer had a bit of a scare when he heard noises from his hotel room. To his surprise, there was a “bloke and women” - let’s just say - having some fun.

Oh, go on then. Here’s one minute of Gerrard doing stuff that no one else can.

MEME 😆

Source: Footebate