Robin Van Persie wants Wayne Rooney to remain with Manchester United for the upcoming season.
"Everyone wants Wayne to stay and deep down I think he feels the same," Van Persie said in an interview with The Sun. "One of the reasons I joined Manchester United was to play with Wayne.
"I hope he stays. Not only is he a great goal scorer, he does so much work across the pitch. He hates to lose - that's why you see him one minute pressing for goal, the next minute defending ferociously. He is an asset to any team. He will come good again. He is a strong lad," he added.
Van Persie is likely the main reason why Rooney wants to leave his current club. Prior to the Dutchman's arrival last summer, Rooney was the top striker on the team. Van Persie's big season with United made it clear that Rooney was dispensable and no longer the top forward.
"Wayne can play up on his own, he can play dropped in. Overall my thought on Wayne is, if for any reason we had an injury to Robin van Persie, we'll need him," said new Manchester manager David Moyes in July about Rooney being the backup forward. "I want to be able to play the two of them, I want to use Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez as well. I want to give myself as many options as possible."
This statement seemingly angered the Englishman and he has reportedly set his heart on moving to Chelsea, the team currently determined to acquire him.
"We are far away so we are not in England to know every detail but we are doing things in the correct way," Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said about acquiring Rooney according to ESPN. "We made the bid and Manchester United have reacted. Let's see what happens. But we can't do more than we are doing now."
The transfer window comes to an end on Aug. 31.