GARY Neville believes Wayne Rooney could one day beat Sir Bobby Charlton's scoring record for Manchester United.
Rooney has not even reached the halfway point in the chase to reach Charlton's milestone of 249.
However,
he did take his current tally to 102 with his crucial penalty against
Arsenal on Saturday, leaving the 23-year-old 18th on the all-time list
behind such notables as Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo, who
found the net on 118 occasions.
Of his present team-mates,
both Ryan Giggs - who eclipsed Charlton's appearance record in the 2008
Champions League final - and Paul Scholes have both scored more often.
But
Rooney does have time on his side and, having pledged his long-term
future to the club he joined from Everton as an 18-year-old in 2004,
the £27million star could get much closer.
"There is a
long time to go before he gets there but Wayne does have an opportunity
to beat Bobby Charlton's scoring record," said Neville.
Neville view
"He
will have to play a lot more games and stay clear of injury because
that record has stood for many years and will be very difficult to
break.
"But a player of his ability should score goals. He
plays centre-forward for Manchester United. That points you in the
right direction."
United will hope Rooney returns from
England duty unscathed because, having stuck to his pledge not to make
any late purchases in the transfer window, Ferguson has placed his
trust in the Merseysider to provide United's attacking thrust over the
next few months.
Ferguson has more of his first-team squad
around than usual during an international break, with Rio Ferdinand
continuing his fight for fitness alongside Giggs, Neville, Scholes,
Michael Owen, Anderson and Tomasz Kuszczak, all of whom will come into
contention for the tricky encounter with Tottenham on September 12.