COVER ALL BASES

After the Gerrard-Chelsea u-turn all hacks are seemingly attempting to cover every possible option on Rooney to United/Chelsea/staying at Everton/Ruud leaving.

The best info RI has at the mo is that United will eventually land Rooney on a player+cash but don't be surprised if it's not until January (Doh! Even we're at it now). Anyway, here's Alan Nixon in the Mirror:

Wayne Rooney will turn down a new contract with Everton and spark a massive transfer scramble between Chelsea and Manchester United. England's Euro 2004 star has decided he wants to move on, either this summer or in the next transfer window.

The bombshell news will be delivered to Everton officials when they eventually sit the teenage striker and his agent down for talks. Everton have little option now but to sell their home-grown starlet - and the bidding will start immediately with Chelsea and United poised to tussle.

United would have to sell Ruud van Nistelrooy to compete with Chelsea, but they have no plans to do so just now. Even if United let the Dutch striker go it would weaken their hand as Rooney would sooner play with van Nistelrooy.

Rooney would be prepared to go to London despite reports that he wants to stay on Merseyside. His experiences at Euro 2004 have helped him mature quickly and he feels he could handle life there.

Boss David Moyes, on holiday in Dubai, can only sit and wait. Despite his defiant stance, he has admitted to close friends within the game that a huge offer would have to be accepted.

Everton are also aware that Rooney's value could drop if he starts next season in the kind of form he showed at the end of the last campaign.

Meanwhile Oliver Holt warns against selling Ruud:

The first great transfer battle of the summer was won and lost on Monday when, with all the enthusiasm of a man who had just decided he was going down with the Titanic, Steven Gerrard announced he was turning his back on Chelsea and staying at Liverpool.

That struggle was football life or death for Liverpool. The decline they cannot stop would only have accelerated if they had been forced to sell their best player to another English side.

Psychologically, it would have been a devastating blow. The loss of Gerrard would have guaranteed Liverpool a barren season. And more to come.

But now another desperate tug-of-war is looming and this one is even more important than the fight over the Liverpool captain. This one holds the outcome of the race for the Premiership title in its hands.

The rumours linking Ruud van Nistelrooy with Real Madrid have been circulating longer than the whispers that Gerrard was on his way to Stamford Bridge.

The saga has hardly started yet. But it will gather momentum at an alarming rate when van Nistelrooy returns from Euro 2004. And if United fail where Liverpool succeeded, if they lose their own top man to the Bernabeu predators, they know the consequences will strike deep at the heart of the club.

They know that they must do everything in their power to keep hold of the Dutch striker. Keep hold of him whatever price they are offered.

Forget about Wayne Rooney as a replacement. Rooney, heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford, may be many, many things but he is not a prolific goalscorer in the mould of van Nistelrooy.

The Everton forward has the potential to become a wonderful, wonderful player but he is not a goal machine. He's a partner for the Dutchman, not a replacement.

If van Nistelrooy goes, the slow slide that seems to have gripped United will pick up speed fast. Lose him and they can kiss the title goodbye next season for a start. Alan Smith and Louis Saha are not in van Nistelrooy's league as a goal-poacher. They're fine players but they're not men who can swing a championship race.

I don't think United want to sell but other rumours, dating back to February, suggest there is a personality clash between van Nistelrooy and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Personally, I hope United can keep him. After the season they had last year, they deserve a decent shot at the crown. But if van Nistelrooy leaves, they won't get a look-in.