3. The Wayne Rooney Transfer Saga
Despite his obvious talent, Wayne Rooney's bi-yearly tantrums have caused no end of problems for Manchester United and he couldn't have picked a worse time to fly into a huff than during David Moyes' pre-season preparations. Rooney had consistently underperformed during the 2012/13 campaign, leading to Sir Alex dropping him from the team amid rumours there had been arguments between the two in the dressing room. Ferguson claimed Rooney had demanded a transfer, which Rooney
swiftly denied and continued moping well into pre-season. Moyes' authority was already being dealt an early blow by the club's inability to sign new players, and the fact that one of the squad's established stars was so publically acting up only made matters worse. Unfortunately for Moyes, José Mourinho had recently returned to the Premier League with his old club Chelsea and sniffed out the possibility of causing trouble for one of his biggest rivals. His eagerness in expressing his admiration for Rooney and desire to sign the player had exactly the effect he was hoping for, upping the ante on a situation which had previously been a lingering frustration for United but not neccessarily a major problem. Mourinho's mischief meant the Rooney question dominated every one of Moyes' press conferences leading up to the new season, and while United ultimately managed to not only keep Rooney but also sign Juan Mata from the Blues six months later, it may have been a pyrrhic victory considering the destabilising effect it had on Moyes' pre-season preparations.
