Wayne Rooney has named Lukaku, Ibrahimovic and Pogba as examples of wrong signings at Manchester United
Article by Iulian Pavel – Published Wednesday, November 12, 2025, 1:24 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, November 12, 2025, 1:24 p.m.
Legendary Old Trafford striker Wayne Rooney, 40, believes French midfielder Paul Pogba is among Manchester United's 3 strangest signings before giant INEOS buys part of the club. Rooney gave a scathing assessment of the club's transfer strategy before Sir Jim Ratcliffe and company were involved.
Prior to the partial takeover by “INEOS” at the end of 2023, United's football operations were largely led by Ed Woodward, who served as executive vice-chairman from 2012 until his resignation in 2021.
“Manchester United's signings before last summer were appalling. They were just taking big names – Romelu Lukaku, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Paul Pogba – and spending huge amounts of money on them. It's going to take a while to get over those mistakes,” Wayne Rooney told The Overlap Fan Debate podcast, his comments reflecting the frustration of fans who watched millions of euros being invested in signings that didn't quite materialise.
“If you look at Manchester United over the last ten years, the players are absolutely destroyed. Now you can see how the confidence is coming back. You can even say the same about the manager. The team is gradually improving, there is definitely some improvement. It was very difficult for Ruben Amorim and I was critical of him. But we see that the team is improving and the players know each other a little better. There are some promising signs that he could eventually sneak into the top four,” added the former Manchester United footballer.
Romelu Lukaku, playing for Belgium // photo: Imago Images
Earnings of €800,000 collected by Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney has been hanging up his boots for years, but he's sorted himself out financially. This week, the English football legend had an unexpected win. The sum of £800,000 went into the accounts of the former Manchester United striker, who benefited from the liquidation of the company HMRC, which managed his image rights for several years.
In total, he will collect £22.5m and is due to receive another sum before the trial is completed, and his personal fortune is approaching £170m (over €200m). Thus, Rooney is among the richest sportsmen in England.
