The Manchester United and England striker turns 31 at the end of October, and that age wouldn’t necessarily suggest any decline in form, but Wayne Mark Rooney has many more footballing miles on his clock than most professional players of similar years.

Age no barrier
Some players find their very best form after reaching thirty-plus, two notables include former United striker Teddy Sheringham, who at 33, equalised for the Reds in their miraculous Champions League comeback win over Bayern Munich back in 1999 and also gained recognition for his fine veteran performances by winning the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year in 2001.

Since returning from injury, Wayne Rooney has upped his game and has shown his versatility whilst playing in a number of positions. The Manchester United frontman has been deployed in a slightly deeper role in recent weeks and Rooney has looked fairly comfortable but will Roy Hodgson consider using the England captain in the same role?

Well first things first, will Rooney even start for England this summer? He certainly shouldn’t start upfront. Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy have both done enough to warrant a place in the starting line-up and the United forward shouldn’t be handed a place in the starting line-up purely because he is captain of the national side.

Embattled Three Lions forward has come out to defend his addition to the English squad for the summer tournament. Rooney has come under intense scrutiny of late as he returns from a knee injury that has kept him out for weeks.

Manchester United are preparing for their second big game in the space of a week when they take on Manchester City at the Etihad stadium on Sunday.

This follows after the 1-1 draw with Chelsea last week. It could have easily been the first defeat for the club since the 5-3 thrashing against Leicester City a few weeks ago. As it was, Robin van Persie’s late equaliser has given United real belief that they can continue their unbeaten run despite coming up against the reigning champions. City come into the match on the back of a very poor run of form that is threatening to disrupt their league title aspirations.

The Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that the penalty taking duties have been taken off the hands of Wayne Rooney at least for the moment.

The striker Wayne Rooney has missed some crucial penalties this season. His latest miss came in the match against West Ham United in the third round of the FA Cup, which could have sent the team out of the tournament once again at this stage. As a result, United decided to hand the penalty taking duties to the veteran Ryan Giggs. The 39-year-old scored from the penalty spot in the 4-1 win over Fulham during the weekend.

The striker of Manchester United, Wayne Rooney, has said that he wants to be included in the England national team for the friendly match against Sweden which is going to be played on 14th of November.

After England’s world cup qualifying match against Poland on Monday, the manager of the England team, Roy Hodgson, had said that some of the senior players of the team would be rested for the friendly cash against Sweden next month. But, Rooney doesn’t want to be rested.

When asked whether he wants to feature for England in the match against Sweden in November, Rooney said, “Yes, off course. I don’t want to miss any international game. I have already told the manager that I want to go to Stockholm for that match.”

Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Patrice Evra, Ji-sung Park and Darren Fletcher will all miss United's Champions League trip to CSKA Moscow.

The five players - many of them probable starters in Sir Alex Ferguson's strongest line-up - were absent from the squad flying out of Manchester on Monday afternoon.

The first World Cup qualifiers in Europe brought mixed fortunes for United's internationals. Wayne Rooney was on the winning side after 90 minutes in an England shirt, thanks to two goals from Chelsea's Joe Cole against Andorra.

He may not be the new England captain but Rio Ferdinand will line up for his country tonight as Fabio Cappello’s side host Czech Republic at Wembley (20:00 BST).

John Terry was handed the armband yesterday, while Ferdinand was given the vice-captain role ahead of England’s 2012 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson refused to rule out a move for Barcelona striker Thierry Henry after their Community Shield victory.

"It has been pressing since the end of last season," said the Scot. "We like to operate with four strikers and we have not been able to do that."