Manchester United: Red Devils ponder selling Wayne Rooney after tempting offer from Chinese Super League side

Manchester United are willing to sell captain Wayne Rooney to a Chinese Super League club in the summer, but only if they can bring a replacement of the same calibre. The English forward is currently sidelined with a knee injury and is expected to be out for at least six weeks.

According to the Manchester Evening News, the 20-time English champions have received an offer from a Chinese club with Rooney expected to double his current salary and earn around £500,000-a-week ($714,350) if he completes a move to the Far East. The report, however, claims that the club will be pressured, mainly by the sponsors, to replace their captain with a player of his quality and marketable reputation.

The 31-year-old striker has not had the best of seasons in the last year and has struggled for form during the ongoing campaign as well, which could tempt the club into parting with their talisman at the end of the season. According to the Mirror, the Chinese club in question is Shanghai Shenua and the report claims that they are willing to offer the Red Devils £27m ($38.6m) to sign Rooney, which will match the fee the club paid to sign him from Everton 12 years ago.

The Chinese Super League club are reportedly keen to make the United skipper the face of the league and have offered him £75m ($107m) to commit to a three-year contract with the club. They have already wrapped up the signings for some major players from Chelsea and Atletico Madrid during their ongoing transfer window. Ezequiel Lavezzi, Jackson Martinez and Ramirez have already ditched Europe to move to the cash-rich Chinese league, and the trend could continue before the window closes on 26 February.