Barcelona prepare £80m bid for Wayne Rooney

Double Footballer of the Year Rooney, 24, was last night with England’s squad in the Austrian Alps unaware Barcelona are already making discreet moves to take him to La Liga in an £80million deal.

It is an unwelcome development for United, who will not countenance such distractions after two successive summers of speculation surrounding the future of Cristiano Ronaldo.

He eventually left for Real Madrid at the end of last August .

England manager Fabio Capello will not receive the news warmly either, after insisting he wants none of his squad distracted by transfer negotiations while they are on national duty up until mid-July.

Barcelona’s interest in Rooney has uncanny similarities with Real’s pursuit of Ronaldo and football power on the pitch and politics off it are interwoven in their interest in him.

Europe’s most attractive side have been knocked off their perch by the Champions League semi-final defeat against Inter Milan and either Inter or Bayern Munich will take their European Crown on Saturday night in Madrid. Coach Pep Guardiola is keen to restore the side to the top immediately and will seek reinforcements.

And that suits both the current president Joan Laporta and the man who is clear favourite to take the presidency in next month’s elections, Sandro Rosell.

Barca have advanced plans to sign Valencia’s David Villa and Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas, but the real coup would be a successful move for Rooney. Spanish sources say that would appeal to Laporta and Rosell.

The Barcelona camp have activated agents to sound out the possibility of a Rooney move.

They know that he is happy at United but the chance for him to link up with Lionel Messi – expected to be a World Cup star for Argentina alongside England’s Rooney in South Africa – at the Nou Camp has massive appeal.

Rooney is still under contract until 2012. So £80m for a 24-year-old of his standing is realistic – had he only a year left on his agreement his market value would fall significantly.

And although United will publicly say they have no need to sell their biggest asset, last summer’s sale of Ronaldo to Spanish football was required to prevent the club posting a loss of more than £30m.

United have since restructured their massive debt with a bond issue, but another massive transfer offer may test the American Glazer family, who own the club.

And some informed observers in Spain consider the playing burden on Rooney since the departure of Ronaldo and the failure of Dimitar Berbatov might persuade him to seek a new challenge.