Rooney, wife in Dubai

DUBAI — After clinching a five-year deal with Manchester United, star striker Wayne Rooney took a break from his hectic schedule and jetted off to Dubai with his wife Coleen for a five-day holiday at the Burj Al Arab on Saturday, according to the UK media reports.

By (With inputs from agencies)

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Published: Tue 26 Oct 2010, 12:34 AM

Last updated: Mon 6 Apr 2015, 4:38 AM

Rooney and Coleen secretly jetted off to Dubai on Tuesday night, cancelling his £90,000 birthday bash.

The footballer pulled the plug on his lavish 25th birthday party despite already spending thousands on food and drink, a Daily Mail report said.

A marquee erected at their luxury £4.5million home in Cheshire will be unused as they unwind on a five-day break.

The £10,000 trip comes after a torrid week which saw the England star almost ditch his club Manchester United, the paper said.

Wife Coleen, 24, rang around the 100 guests they had invited to his birthday to cancel and they packed their bags for a last-minute holiday.

They left their one-year-old son Kai behind with her parents and it is thought they will reschedule the party for next weekend instead.

Rooney, who is currently injured, asked permission from Sir Alex to go on the trip and the Manchester United manager gave it his full backing.

They reportedly ate cake and Pringles on their Emirates flight from Manchester Airport while watching teen film Rising Stars and then tucked into tomato soup and duck, washed down by white wine.

The pair are staying at the Burj Al Arab hotel. It is the same hotel where fellow England star John Terry took his wife Toni after allegations that he had an affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the report added.

Meanwhile, Rooney has reportedly negotiated a break clause in his new five-year contract with the club.

According to the Telegraph, Rooney can leave Manchester United for £30 million if certain targets are not met on a year-by-year basis.

A source close to the negotiating team said that Rooney’s representatives took legal advice on how to build a clause that would allow the player to leave Manchester United if the American owners, the Glazer family, were to renege on their promise to invest in the team. Manchester United’s owners have reportedly pledged to give £100 million to manager Sir Alex Ferguson to buy new players.

The guarantee by the Glazer family had helped Ferguson to persuade Rooney to stay back at the club.

The insertion of a break clause gives the player the freedom to move if his valuation is met, but it also protects the club against players who try to force cut-price deals.

In a dramatic change of events, Rooney — who wanted to leave United earlier this week — ended doubts over his future by signing a new five-year contract.

The striker is now the highest-paid player at United, overtaking defender Rio Ferdinand.

Rooney, who was previously on £90,000 per week, is now understood to be earning a basic salary in excess of 150,000 pounds per week. —


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