曼联小将鲁尼11月24日表示愿意为曼联继续效力10年。“我没有任何理由不这样做，”今年20岁的鲁尼在接受采访时表示：“这是一个大俱乐部，拥有着广泛的球迷基础，此外队中还有很多极有潜力的年轻球员。希望我们队的成绩越来越好。”

    据英国《卫报》11月25日报道，鲁尼在接受采访时表示，希望能在这个赛季代表曼联获得至少一项冠军。“我加入曼联就是冲着冠军和奖牌来的。”鲁尼表示：“希望切尔西队在联赛中能够丢掉几分，这样我们就可以拉近和他们的距离，甚至可能追上他们。如果我们能在补赛中获胜，那么我们同切尔西队的积分差距就将缩小到7分，而联赛离结束还早着呢。”根据现有的合同，鲁尼将在曼联一直效力到2010年。

    与此同时，曼联主教练弗格森在接受采访时也就有关他将前往苏格兰格拉斯哥流浪者队接替麦克利什担任该队主教练的传闻进行了澄清。“如果我离开了曼联，那我也就退休了。”今年63岁的弗格森谈起自己的前途丝毫不含糊。

    Wayne Rooney yesterday said he was prepared to commit himself to Manchester United for the next 10 years. "I don't see any reason why I won't be [here]," he said. "It's a massive club with a massive fan base and we've got a lot of good young players. Hopefully we're going to keep getting better." Rooney, who is under contract at Old Trafford until 2010, added that he hoped this season would see him collect a first major club honour.

    "I joined Manchester United to win trophies and medals," said the 20-year-old, a losing FA Cup finalist with United in May. "Hopefully Chelsea will drop a few points and we can get close or even catch them. If we win our game in hand it's a seven-point gap and there's a lot of games left."

    United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson has distanced himself from speculation about his succeeding Alex McLeish at Rangers. "I'll retire when I leave Man United," said the 63-year-old Scot, a former Ibrox centre-forward. If Rangers beat Internazionale at Ibrox in a fortnight's time they will become the first Scottish club to reach the Champions League knockout stages.

    The FA is to write to clubs warning managers and officials they are no longer allowed to own shares in player agents' businesses. There will be a transitional period for the sale of stock, but those who continue to hold it would not be allowed to engage that agent to act on their behalf.

    "This is a step in the right direction but only amounts to a declaration of good intentions," said Jon Holmes, chief executive of SFX agency. "The big challenge will be when it comes to strictly enforcing these regulations. The FA would appear to be relying upon the willingness of all agents to be transparent in every deal and I am sceptical this can be achieved."

    Kia Joorabchian's proposed takeover of West Ham has failed to materialise. Media Sports Investments - the consortium led by the Iranian-born businessman - told the stock exchange it believed it would not be able to reach a consensus on the valuation with West Ham's directors.

    Southampton's first monthly board meeting since the departure of Sir Clive Woodward's former right-hand man Simon Clifford passed peacefully yesterday with the club hoping to draw a line under their difficulties.

    The Hearts chairman Roman Romanov has admitted that the club already have a director of football in place and hope to unveil him soon. Speaking at a meeting of the club's Shareholders Association, Romanov said "he is helping us and is well known in UK football".