Rooney relishing senior role as revival continues across the pond

It was only last November that Wayne Rooney left America’s Pacific north-west with a decidedly dodgy future at Manchester United.

Banished to Nike Town in Oregon for a week to regain his fitness away from the glare of publicity and fall-out from a contract crisis that took him to the brink of leaving Old Trafford, Rooney boarded a plane back to England unsure how he would be welcomed by his own teammates and the club’s supporters on the other side of the Atlantic.

Some said they would never forgive him. Others wondered whether a new five-year deal was United’s way of securing maximum price for their prize asset when he was transferred this summer.

Hat-trick hero: Wayne Rooney (right) celebrates one of his goals with Gabriel Obertan (left) and Park Ji-Sung 

Fast forward eight months and Rooney’s rehabilitation would appear to be complete, and not just because he celebrated a hat-trick in a resounding 7-0 win over Seattle Sounders here in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Senior role: Rooney is now one of the most experienced members of Man United's squad

Having helped United regain the Barclays Premier League title last season and reach the final of the Champions League - scoring in the defeat to Barcelona at Wembley - few would argue that his importance to Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad is greater than ever.

The departures of Edwin van der Sar, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Wes Brown and John O’Shea have elevated Rooney squarely into the senior ranks within the United dressing-room at the age of 25.

And Ferguson’s success in deploying the England striker in a deeper role towards the end of last season has opened up new possibilities for Rooney who has embraced the challenge to such an extent that he has set his sights on emulating Barcelona’s Lionel Messi as the top No.10 in the world.

‘That’s where I like playing the most,’ said Rooney, who made a poignant return to Nike headquarters with the rest of the United squad for a training session earlier this week. ‘It’s where I finished last season and I was really enjoying it because I think it’s a position that suits me.

‘I’m a player who wants to do well all the time and I know I can always improve. I hope that I’m going to get better. I work and practise hard every day to try to achieve that.

‘Messi is a great player and rightly World Player of the Year. I think, not just for me but for every footballer out there, that’s the target you want to try to get to. Hopefully I can do that.’

After Ferguson spent £50million on replacements this summer by signing David De Gea, Ashley Young and Phil Jones, Rooney admitted that it will be a different United that prepares to defend the title next month when he expects Liverpool and Manchester City to launch just as strong a challenge as Chelsea and Arsenal.

Fresh faces: Rooney is looking forward to being part of a new generation at Old Trafford

‘If you look around our dressing-room now it’s gone a lot younger all of a sudden,’ added Rooney.

‘There are young players coming into the team now who have that desire and hunger to win trophies. We’re just excited to see what next season brings.

‘We’ve seen again how Ash can cross the ball and Phil Jones did well last season for Blackburn. I haven’t seen much of the goalkeeper but I’m sure he will be fantastic.

‘The main threat is going to be from Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City. One of them, plus us, will be fighting for the title.

‘I think Liverpool will challenge this time. They’ve made some really good signings under Kenny Dalglish, British players, and I’m sure they will try harder than they’ve ever done, fighting to be up there. They will think they have a chance of winning the title.

Clinical: Rooney nets his third in Seattle

‘City have obviously got a lot of good players now and had a big push towards the end of last season.’

Rooney was speaking after he came on as a second-half substitute to claim a hat-trick in the space of 21 minutes against Seattle in front of a sell-out 67,000 crowd at CenturyLink Field on Thursday.

Michael Owen, Mame Biram Diouf, Ji-Sung Park and Gabriel Obertan also scored for the Premier League champions, who followed up their opening 4-1 win over New England Revolution with another emphatic victory.

‘I was delighted with the result and delighted to score,’ said Rooney. ‘We’ve trained very hard this week and it was a great result.’

Ferguson used a total of 19 players but left De Gea and Jones on the bench alongside Danny Welbeck, Chris Smalling and Tom Cleverley, fulfilling his promise to hold back the five young latecomers to United’s tour party for Saturday's game in Chicago.

Back in the swing: Rooney's form has improved greatly over the last eight months

The United boss said: ‘It was nice Wayne scored and it is a nice start for him getting three goals - he’s worked hard and done really well in training. But it was a strange game because I don’t think the scoreline reflected the chances.’

United will be hoping for a sterner test in Chicago, and a heatwave bringing temperatures of more than 100 degrees to many parts of the US will be a challenge in itself after the comfort of Seattle extended to an easy run-out against the local Major League Soccer team.

Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said: ‘It’s my most embarrassing loss personally.

‘Every time Wayne Rooney got a clean look on goal it was in the back of the net. United scored great goals and there movement was superb, but I thought we embarrassed ourselves in the second half.’