Wayne Rooney insists he would NOT accept 2012 Premier League title if Man City are stripped of it and claims Man United do not 'deserve' to be awarded winners' medal - as legend opposes Rio Ferdinand and David De Gea's stance
Published: | Updated:
Wayne Rooney has insisted Man United do not 'deserve' to be awarded the 2011-12 Premier League title and he would be 'uncomfortable' accepting a winners medal should Man City be stripped of the crown.
Rooney's former team-mates Rio Ferdinand and David De Gea have publicly called for the 2011-12 prize to be added to their medal collection, with City found guilty of the vast majority of the 115 charges made against them by the Premier League.
The bombshell verdict has opened a can of worms over how City's illustrious period from 2009-2018 should be judged, with players, fans and managers campaigning for the rewriting of history.
But United legend Rooney is adamant that Sir Alex Ferguson's class of 2011-12 are undeserving of the top prize, even if City are stripped of the title.
Wayne Rooney's United were denied at the Stadium of Light in 2012
Rio Ferdinand applauds the travelling United fans after the news of City's win comes through
'I have heard Rio has come out saying about getting another Premier League medal... I wouldn't really feel comfortable accepting another Premier League medal, if I'm being honest,' he said on Stick To United.
'I don't think we deserve it, we didn't do enough that season to win the league. I think we were six or seven points clear with four or five games to go and we threw it away.'
'I've seen everything that has come out over the past few days and listening to people and I was putting myself in a Man City player's shoes... they're players, they're doing everything they can to try and win the Premier League title and in their mind they have done it, if those players have no understanding of what is going on above them, if that happened to me... I would be absolutely devastated.
'It might happen, they might take them [medals] away, but I wouldn't want it [a medal] because I don't think as a team we deserved it that year because obviously we didn't finish first.
Sergio Aguero's late, late goal gave Manchester City their first title since 1968
'So when I see team-mates saying "I want a medal", I'm happy with the five I've won. I wouldn't want this one. Should they get it stripped for what the owners have done? Yeah maybe, but I wouldn't feel comfortable accepting it.'
United suffered devastation on the final day having thought they had pulled off an unlikely title victory with a 1-0 win over Sunderland, secured by Rooney's header.
When the final whistle went at the Stadium of Light, City were surprisingly 2-1 down at home to QPR and needed a win to become champions with United having secured three points.
But just minutes later Edin Dzeko's equaliser was followed by Sergio Aguero's famous goal, snatching the title and leaving United stars heartbroken on the pitch.
Rooney's former United team-mates have also weighed in on the impending verdict, with David de Gea, who was also part of the team which missed out in 2012 and that which finished runners-up in 2017-2018 posting on X: 'So... Let's talk. How many Premier League titles have I won then?'
Rio Ferdinand, another member of the 2012 runners-up posted: 'Another premier league medal to be added to the cabinet.'
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.