Rooney's imminent departure may well be a blessing in disguise.

It seems that Wayne Rooney has most definitely put an end to his Manchester Utd career. If what The Guardian is reporting is true, then Wayne Rooney will be waving goodbye to the place he's called home for six years and looking for pastures new.

There can be no doubt that Rooney is one of the worlds best footballers, despite his recent drop in form. He could quite easily walk into any team on the planet, so the fact he's not been playing for Man Utd despite his protestations that he's not injured is baffling. It now seems that the reason for this is that his and Alex Ferguson's relationship is badly damaged, perhaps irreparably. Anyone with a knowledge of football knows how that turns out...

So the million dollar question is what happens next? Will he stay or go? If he goes, where does he go to and who do Man Utd get to replace the big, Shrek shaped hole he'll leave?

Well, let's say what would happen if he did leave. The most pressing concern would be whether or not Fergie would have the funs from his sale to spend on new players. Man Utd certainly need to strengthen their squad and clear out some of the dead wood (Carrick, Anderson, Brown, Hargreaves etc). The old guard of Giggs and Scholes need replacing with player just as capable, as well as other veterans such as Van der Sar. Now, knowing Fergie he probably has a shopping list. However, knowing the Glazers they have a massive interest repayment bill.

Manchester United's financial situation certainly does make a wholesale renovation difficult. I certainly can't see Fergie retiring any time soon. He'll want to ensure that the club can continue to be successful after he's gone. That was a key role that Rooney was going to have. He was going to be the talisman to lead Utd into a new era. With him gone and no natural successor, the short term damage is potentially quite severe.

But, as with all things, there's an upside. Rooney has not been performing for a long while now. He's clearly not happy and an unhappy star player is bad news for any side. If he were to go in January it would provide a large amount of funds and also save the club £150,000 a week.

Ferguson also needs to figure out whether or not the contribution that Rooney makes on the pitch is worth the disruption all this bad press causes on the changing room. As it stands, Rooney is providing virtually nothing on the pitch and is also bringing a lot of bad press the teams way. If this doesn't change by January, then there's a very real chance of Rooney going, even if he does have a change of heart.

But where would Rooney go? Certainly the obvious choice would be Real Madrid. They could certainly afford him. Rooney may also be enticed by the opportunity of playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo again. Furthermore, Karim Benzema has had a torrid time since moving to the Spanish capital. Manchester United had expressed an interest in signing him before he moved to Madrid and he could be offered in part-exchange. However, like Rooney, there have been serious allegations over his private life and this could certainly scupper any chance of a part-exchange.

Barcelona are also a strong contender for Rooney's potential signature. To me though, Barcelona would be a poor choice for both Rooney and Barca. I don't think he would suit their style of play, much like Ibrahimovic before him. Barcelona also have their share of financial troubles at the moment and I doubt, after signing David Villa and Javier Mascherano, they'd be willing to make such a large expense.

The outside bet is that Rooney wouldn't leave Manchester at all. Manchester City are certainly one of the few clubs that could afford him. The idea would certainly appeal to the City hierarchy, whose eyes would be rolling with the potential merchandising revenue. Rooney though, marital infidelity aside, always strikes me as more of a principled player. Would he really want to anger the Man Utd faithful by moving to their fiercest rivals? I'd be highly, highly surprised.

What's certain is that whatever happens, whether Rooney stays or goes, the next few weeks will certainly provide an entertaining spectacle. Manchester United play Bursaspor on Wednesday in the Champions League. If Rooney yet again fails to make the starting 11, serious questions will be being asked over his future. As everyone knows, Fergie always wins...