Wayne Rooney was quick to reject the rumors linking him with a move away from Manchester United, terming the reports as "absolute rubbish", while Dimitar Berbatov is close to completing a move to Fulham after turning down offers from Italian clubs Fiorentina and Juventus.
Certain reports suggested that Rooney was unhappy at Old Trafford and his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson had broken down, with the manager ready to offload the striker if a suitable bid was received. Rooney, who suffered a nasty cut to his thigh in the club's last English Premier League game against Fulham, was left out of the starting line up and is now scheduled to miss at least month due to the injury.
However, Rooney, via his Twitter account, said the rumors were untrue. "Read the nonsense in the papers and heard what people have to say. absolute rubbish #heretostay," he tweeted.
Meanwhile, another United striker Dimitar Berbatov is in talks with Fulham after rejecting a move to Fiorentina at the very last minute, much to the Italian club's frustration.
The Bulgarian flew out to Italy to conduct a medical with the Florence club and put pen to paper on personal terms after a fee had been agreed with United, but a last-minute move from Fulham changed the Bulgarian's decision, with Juventus also voicing their interest but eventually failing in their attempts to bring the talented forward to Italy.
"ACF Fiorentina announce that the transfer for Dimitar Berbatov definitively collapsed after an agreement with Manchester United had been concluded (with shared exchange of contracts, the first instalment paid and the financial guarantees for the second instalment ratified) and after reaching a verbal agreement with the player over his contract," a club statement said.
"During today the English club had allowed their player the written permission to come to Florence for a medical and to sign his contract. The player got on the flight with his agent and on tickets paid for by Fiorentina. He never arrived in Florence.
"This was down to outlandish and arrogant behaviour of other clubs, who have nothing to do with fair play and sporting ethics that go even beyond the confines of fairness.
"As for the player, apart from his characteristics and his value on the field, at this stage we are happy he didn't come to Fiorentina. He did not deserve our city, to wear our jersey or the values that represent it."
Juventus sporting director Beppe Marotta confirmed they had tried to sign the 31-year-old, but were told the Bulgarian international is keen to remain in England due to family reasons. "It hasn't been a refusal," Marotta told Sky Sports Italia. "Berbatov prefers remaining in England due to family reasons. We have contacted him after we knew he refused the Fiorentina move.
"I've spoken with Man United's chief officer. We knew their decision to sell Berbatov and we started a normal move.
"We wanted to take advantage from this occasion. The aim is to improve ourselves."
It is understood Fulham put in a late bid for Berbatov with manager Martin Jol an admirer of the striker's talents having worked with him at Tottenham Hotspur.
