Does Rooney Need It?

The name Duncan Edwards has been linked with so many players in United’s post war history, and the weight weighs heavily on the shoulders.

Now Nobby Stiles is the latest to plant it on a United starlet.

The legendary ‘Busby Babe’ Duncan Edwards died from his injuries 15 days after the Munich air disaster in February, 1958 aged just 21.

Between 1952 and 1958 he made 175 appearances for Matt Busby’s United, scoring 21 goals and collecting two championship medals.

Edwards won 18 caps for England between 1955 and 1957 and was tipped as a future international star before the crash which also killed seven of his United team-mates.

Stiles: ‘Rooney is the nearest thing I’ve seen to Duncan Edwards. I joined United when I was 15 in 1957 and the crash happened eight months later.

‘But I had watched Duncan growing up and people often ask me why were the ‘Busby Babes’ so good – it was because they didn’t know danger.

‘Duncan was that good and he would have only been 29 when we won the World Cup in 1966. But I honestly think Rooney is like him.

‘I look at Rooney and the way he is built and you would think he would not be able to run. But he is built in a similar way and he is so quick. I would love him to go. With him in the side we have got a great chance – our best chance since 1966.’