Sir Alex Expects Rooney Record Will Last

Sir Alex Ferguson has described record-breaker Wayne Rooney's achievement of surpassing Sir Bobby Charlton's goalscoring record at Manchester United as "outstanding" and "amazing".

The man who brought Rooney to the club in 2004 and made him the most expensive teenager in world football was full of praise for the Reds skipper during an exclusive interview with MUTV. Sir Alex conceded it will be difficult for anybody, including current teen star Marcus Rashford, to beat the new benchmark set by Rooney whenever he scores his last goal for the Reds. 

"Well, it lasted for 44 years, I think, and, when Wayne Rooney joined the club I could never imagine anybody could beat Sir Bobby's record," Sir Alex told MUTV. "So his achievement is outstanding. It's amazing. He's 200-odd games short of Bobby's playing record and that makes it even more amazing.

"I don't think so [anyone can overtake Wayne]. I couldn't say never - never say never - but if you look at modern-day football, Manchester United are one of the few clubs who can keep players for over 10 years. It is more difficult than ever but we were very lucky if you look at my time, even in Sir Matt Busby's time, we had players who stayed for more than 10 years. Many, many players did that and Wayne is one of them.

"But, in the modern day, you see it happening less and less that players stay for that length of time. For instance, Jose [Mourinho] mentioned young Marcus Rashford and he's got to score more than 20 goals a season for the next 10 years or so and that is difficult in itself. You hope it lasts and he stays here more than 10 years but there are fewer players doing that now."