Man Utd could ‘unleash next Wayne Rooney’ as Cristiano Ronaldo exit sparks a change | Football | Sport

The move freed up Rooney and Ronaldo as both players subsequently enjoyed significant and rapid progress. During the first campaign without Van Nistelrooy, Rooney notched 23 goals in all competitions – the highest tally in his career by that point – and Ronaldo almost doubled his Premier League haul by jumping from nine goals in 2005/06 to 17 the following campaign. 

Having spent heavily in recent transfer windows, United have the attacking quality in their squad for several candidates to take a comparable step up now that Ronaldo is out of the equation. Marcus Rashford is already back to his best with 12 goals in all competitions this term, which is more than double the measly five he managed last time around.