Jamie Redknapp has laughed off suggestions from Louis van Gaal that Manchester United need a 20-goal-a-season striker.
The Dutchman said that he requires a player capable of consistently netting 20-plus goals for him each season but according to former Liverpool midfielder Redknapp, he already has one.
Van Gaal has persisted in playing Rooney as a midfielder this season but in a more advanced role on Saturday, the England captain scored a match-winning double in the 2-0 Old Trafford triumph over Sunderland.
Rooney has an average of more than 20 goals over his 11 seasons with United which suggests to Redknapp that he currently has the player he yearns for at his disposal.
'When Louis van Gaal said he needed a 20-goal-a-season striker, I almost laughed. Manchester United have spent huge money and now he is saying Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie or Radamel Falcao can't score 20 goals? Do me a favour,' Redknapp wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
'Rooney issued the perfect response on Saturday. I still don't know why Van Gaal insists on playing him in midfield. In his career Rooney averages 18.8 goals a season. At United that figure is 20.6 goals. Still not good enough, Louis?
'Even if he only meant league goals, Rooney still ranks highly. Thierry Henry, one of the deadliest strikers in Premier League history and my Sky (Sports) colleague at Wembley on Sunday (for the Capital One Cup final), only scored 20 league goals in a season five times. Wayne has done it twice.
'His Premier League average is 14.1 a season but Alan Shearer, the league's leading goalscorer, averaged 18.6. Using Van Gaal's maths, even Shearer couldn't get into this United team '
