Wayne Rooney is the only Englishman on the initial list for the FIFA Balon D’or award.
While FIFA will not officially release the list until November 1, the Manchester United striker is the lone Englishman according to Spanish daily Mundo Deportivo.
Rooney’s United team-mate Javier Hernandez is also listed along with Manchester City’s David Silva and Sergio Aguero plus Liverpool’s Luis Suarez.
European champions Barcelona dominate the list with nine candidates: current holder Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres iniesta, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Cesc Fabregas, David Villa, Dani Alves and Eric Abidal.
“For me he has got to go, the talent that he is,” Gerrard told Talksport’s Stan Collymore in a telephone interview.
“He is that good a player I think you have to take the risk and take him. It is devastating he is out for the first three games, it is a massive blow for everyone.
“We will have to see who we come up against in the group games but we should progress from the group stages and then you need your best player out there with you to push on all the way to the final.”
Best player. So true. And gone for three games. I don’t think it has really sunk in for England how big the Rooney loss is. Could it be so big that they don’t make it out of the group stage – as Gerrard says – and Rooney never plays a game at the Euros?
Striking resemblance: What Wayne is going to look like 30 years from now?
The elder Rooney’s arrest is in connection with a red card received by Motherwell player Steve Jennings and some suspicious betting activity. While nothing has been proven yet this case has all of the markings of the kinds of fixes which Declan Hill exposed with his ground-breaking book > The Fix. You might ask yourself “What kind of player would do something like this?” but as Hill proved, match-fixing of all kinds is happening regularly around the world.
Rooney has already scored nine goals in seven games this season. Here’s what Ferguson told Inside United:
“I do [think he can eclipse Charlton's record]. He is only 25 years of age, so you’d think he has at least another five years in him at the very top level. And if he looks after himself like Ryan Giggs has done, he could play well into his 30s.
“The opportunity is there and time is on his side. He’s raced out of the blocks already this season and I hope he could get up to around the 30 mark.”
Rooney is currently ninth on the United list, with 156 goals – 93 behind Charlton, who knocked home an impressive 247 before his 17-year stint with the club ended in 1973.
