Soccer: Man Utd and Rooney deny exit rumours

Manchester United and Wayne Rooney moved swiftly on Friday to deny a report that the striker was poised to leave Old Trafford, dismissing the claim as "nonsense."

A report to be published in an English newspaper on Saturday suggested Sir Alex Ferguson was ready to sell the club's talismanic striker after a breakdown in relations with the player.

However a joint statement issued by United and Rooney late on Friday dismissed the claims as rubbish.

"Manchester United and Wayne Rooney have been made aware of the theme of an article in tomorrow's Independent newspaper," said the statement.

"We have not seen the detail but can assure all United fans that the manager and the club are committed to Wayne Rooney and Wayne is committed to the manager and the club.

"The player and the manager have always had, and retain, the utmost respect for each other and look forward to working together in the coming seasons.

"Any suggestion that Manchester United and Wayne Rooney are to part company is complete nonsense."

Rooney meanwhile took to Twitter to deny the story.

"The Independent are talking absolute rubbish. My future is with Manchester United and the club and I are totally committed to each other ,The manager and I have no issues and anyone who says different don't know what they are talking about," the striker added.

Fresh speculation about strains in Ferguson and Rooney's relationship began during the Christmas holiday programme, when it emerged the player had been dropped from last week's defeat against Blackburn.

Rooney was fined a week's wages after going out for dinner with his wife and fellow players Jonny Evans and Darron Gibson on December 26.

A lacklustre Rooney was also substituted by Ferguson during Wednesday's 3-0 defeat against Newcastle at St James Park.