United Keen To Tie Rooney Down

Sir Alex Ferguson has said if Wayne Rooney wants to stay 'for a lifetime' as he claimed the other day, then the club would open talks with the England striker.

Wayne Rooney a Red for life?

Sir Alex said: 'It's something David [Gill] and I have already discussed because we all want Wayne to stay here for a lifetime. He's a fantastic footballer who has the energy, enthusiasm and desire to remain at the top. We have some other young players like that and what we've always tried to do is make sure that the contract situation is always on the positive side for us.'

'We did it with Ronaldo last season and we did it with young Rossi in the summer when he signed a new contract. We'll continue to do that because we have a good young group of players that we want to keep together for a long time. Wayne is without question part of that.'

United's Chief executive David Gill confirmed this and said 'the fact that Wayne has indicated he wants to extend his contract is very positive. I'm sure we'll sit down and sort something out; it's in our interests and his to do that.'

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