Rooney en route to £40m after u-turn

Rooney has received assurances from the Glazer family that they are committed to keeping United rolling in silverware.

Although he was condemned for releasing a statement on Wednesday night, two hours before the Champions League win over Bursaspor, questioning the future direction of the club, the outcome has brought reassurance that will go beyond the striker himself.

So many questions have been asked about the Glazers' ability to fund major purchases given the relatively low-key investments since Cristiano Ronaldo's world-record departure.

Few have been able to get any answers, beyond chief executive David Gill and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Rooney did, directly. The responses were enough to persuade him to sign a five-year contract estimated to be worth 40m, which will make him the highest-paid player in United history.

"I care for Manchester United," he told MUTV. "And I had some concerns. I made David Gill and the manager aware of them but the contract talks didn't really move forward. Once everything become public knowledge over the last few days, it looked as though there was nowhere to go.

"But the manager made it quite clear the door was still open for me to sign. The club still wanted me to sign.

"I spoke to my agent and said 'let's go in and sit down and try to resolve it to get the deal done'.

"Now I have spoken with the manager, David Gill and the Glazers. All of them have confirmed to me this is the right club to be at and this club will continue being successful and winning things."

Ferguson said: "We have been hurt by events but Wayne has apologised to me and the players. He will do so with the supporters too.

"I always feel it is a quality in a person when they say they are sorry and realise they have made a mistake. That happens with young people.

"The job is to put it behind us and get Wayne Rooney back on the pitch, playing the way we know he can."

He added|: "All the impact of what has been happening over the last few days has made Wayne realise what a big club Manchester United is.

"Sometimes when you are enclosed in a club like ours, where no one gets into the training ground, you forget how big the club is."

WE'RE ON BRINK OF EXTINCTION – POMPEY

Portsmouth administrator Andrew Andronikou remains confident the club will be able to exit administration – despite the club releasing a statement last night suggesting they were on the brink of liquidation.

Pompey's statement pointed the finger of blame at former owner and creditor Alexandre Gaydamak, accusing the Russian businessman of "moving the goalposts" as the club attempted to reach agreement with all creditors to move out of administration.

Andronikou accepts there is still work to be done, he believes the release was premature and expects negotiations to resume over the weekend. He said: "Contractual negotiations have stalled but I am disappointed there has been a press release. I am still hopeful we can sit down over the next 24 hours and agree a way forward."

The club statement, ahead of today's Championship match at Hull City which the Football League confirmed will go ahead, said Gaydamak had significant" cash payment to be made, and that was refused. Portsmouth called it "a ransom payment".