A star on the Wayne?

The Wayne Rooney saga has seemingly reached a final conclusion with the striker’s 'shock' decision to sign a new five-year deal. Unusually for a man from Liverpool, Rooney has come to symbolise Manchester United, and the seemingly strange prophesies that he would stay from Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini, despite his intimations, proved to be true.

This startling sequence of events follows on from revelations about the striker’s private life, and while his sponsors have not withdrawn at quite the rate they did in the case of Tiger Woods, have his recent outbursts and misdemeanours diminished his appeal?

Has it meant that his sponsorship value and attraction has declined? There had been speculation that, on hearing revelations about his private life, and keen to protect their reputation as a family company, Coca-Cola was seriously considering dropping Rooney.

In buying into Rooney you are buying into his image; namely, the archetypal English footballer – committed, passionate, fiery and above all loyal. It is undoubtedly this last characteristic that is now under immense scrutiny. How much emphasis do sponsors place on loyalty?

When all this is combined with Rooney’s outburst against England fans at the World Cup, perhaps sponsors are looking elsewhere for a new star? His performances have become increasingly more withdrawn of late, and perhaps they may too in terms of endorsements. Equally, perhaps the status quo applies, and as a sponsor you take the highs with the lows. Arguably Rooney’s passion and fire to be the best and play for the best team means he maintains his value.

Certainly his choice to stay at Manchester United leaves him better positioned to keep the backing of his key sponsors; if certain stories were to be believed he was set to lose millions upon departure.

In the end, however, it will be his feet that do the talking. Play well and the fans will forget his misdemeanours and potential disloyalty – and if they can, so can brands. If he continues to have an indifferent season his star may well be on the Wayne.

Ronan Joyce