Sir Alex Ferguson has tipped Wayne Rooney to smash Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time goalscoring record for Manchester United. Charlton scored 249 goals during his 17-year United career, a figure it was felt would never be matched.
However, Rooney's double against Aston Villa last weekend took him on to 178, just one behind George Best and Dennis Viollet, joint-fourth on the Red Devils' scoring chart, and only 71 behind Charlton.
At just 26, Rooney has plenty of time on his side. After all, Ruud van Nistelrooy was 25 when he joined United from PSV in 2001, and he went on to score 150 times in his five seasons with the club. So Ferguson can see no reason why Rooney should not eventually become the most prolific player United have ever had.
"He has time on his side to beat all types of records," said Ferguson. "There is every chance of beating Bobby's record. He is on track to beat it and I am sure he will do it."
There is every chance of beating Bobby's record. He is on track to beat it and I am sure he will do it.
Sir Alex Ferguson on Wayne Rooney's hopes of becoming Manchester United's all-time record scorer
Rooney is currently on 31 for the campaign, just three adrift of the 34 he scored two seasons ago, which represents his highest total to date. He will be additionally keen to do well this weekend against former club Everton, with Ferguson believing it will provide Rooney with "the edge" that he needs to perform at his best.
"We have had a clutch of players who scored an incredible amount of goals," said Ferguson. "I always thought of Wayne as a player who scored goals in clutches. Now they are evening themselves out and his scoring record is terrific.
"What I have always said about him is that he plays on the edge. He likes the edge to a big game, and he has a big game on Sunday."
Fergie still aware of Owen value
Any argument for Rooney reaching Charlton's total must be tempered with the knowledge that it appeared even more certain that Michael Owen would become England's highest scorer in September 2007, when he reached the 40 mark. He still remains there now, thanks mainly to a series of chronic injuries that have wrecked his time at both Newcastle United and now Old Trafford.
Owen has not played since November after suffering a thigh injury, yet after returning to training earlier this week, Ferguson is not writing the 32-year-old out of his plans.
"We want to try and get Michael back," he said. "If he continues his training for the next week, he would certainly be under consideration for the important games coming up because he can score important goals at any stage of a match. He has been very unlucky. But for those injuries, who is to say what kind of career he would have had in terms of goals in particular."
Owen will not be involved on Sunday, and neither will Anderson and Paul Pogba, both of whom have been ruled out for the remainder of the season with hamstring and ankle injuries respectively. Not that either were expected to play any meaningful role against Everton.
High praise for Moyes
Having only lost once in the Premier League on home soil against the Toffees, back in 1992, there is nothing to suggest United are about to suffer the kind of mishap that would offer Manchester City hope that they could get close enough to claim top spot in next week's derby clash at the Etihad Stadium. However, Ferguson is close enough to Everton boss David Moyes to be aware they will be dangerous opponents, especially after experiencing the disappointment of that FA Cup semi-final loss to arch-rivals Liverpool at Wembley last Saturday.
"David has been there ten years and what he has achieved in that time is phenomenal," said Ferguson. "He has not had the financial resources of other clubs with the same type of history, but he has managed to do it time and time again.
"It defies logic with the squad he has had to deal with. He always gets results and keeps his team in the top half of the league. It has been amazing."