Rooney: It's An Exciting Time

Wayne Rooney believes Manchester United’s new signings can provide the "extra gear” needed to mount a challenge for major honours in 2015/16.

In an exclusive interview with MUTV, the Reds captain reflected on the squad’s work so far during Tour 2015, presented by Aon, and discussed an “exciting time” for the club.

"We’ve had new players come in, quality players, and we feel they can give us an extra gear to what we had last season," said Rooney.

"Obviously the lads who were here already understand how the manager wants us to work. For the first couple of months last season it was probably a bit difficult to take everything in and go out and perform, but we fully understand what the manager wants and now we’ve added a few players it’s exciting.

"I feel we have the right squad in terms of hoping to be successful in the new season and I think it’s an exciting time for the team."

Rooney has started the first three tour games alongside one of the new players, Memphis Depay, who scored his first goal against San Jose Earthquakes last week. The Dutch attacker has looked lively in his opening few appearances and the skipper hopes to continue developing a rapport with him.

"It's still early days [for us playing together] but obviously Memphis is a fantastic talent," said the captain. "We're still working on things in training to try to get better together and get a better understanding of each other’s games which is important."

Rooney followed Memphis in scoring his first goal of the tour when United beat the European champions Barcelona 3-1 in Santa Clara, to register the Reds' third and most notable pre-season win.

"It’s always a difficult game against Barcelona but to get the victory and with the way we played made it very satisfying,” he reflected. “A lot of the younger players came on for the last 30 minutes and did really well against a quality team. That will give them a lot of confidence.

“We know pre-season is hard work but it’s important we do as well as we can and be ready for the start of the season. In terms of preparation and games it couldn’t have gone any better.”