Arsenal Join Chelsea in Battle for Manchester United's Wayne Rooney: Nightly Soccer Report

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says his club doesn’t have any issues with Wayne Rooney’s reported £250,000 per week wages, and has hinted that he may be willing to enact some revenge on Manchester United for stealing away his prized striker (Robin van Persie) by doing the same thing to United by stealing away Rooney.

After Arsenal’s 7-1 win against a Vietnam XI in Hanoi, Wenger said:

“We do not have any problem with the wages of Rooney. Do I get the sense United would be unwise or unwilling to sell to a Premier League rival? It happened to us. It can happen to them.”

Wenger is talking the talk, but it’s time for him to walk the walk. Instead of taking satisfaction in Manchester United possibly losing Rooney to either Chelsea or Arsenal, it’s time for the Arsenal manager to make a high-profile signing not just to wound United, but to also make a big statement that the Gunners mean serious business about trying to win the Premier League title this season. We’ve already seen the transfer of Gonzalo Higuain potentially fall out of the reach of Arsenal. Now it’s time for Arsenal to sign a deal for Rooney or another potential star.

Here are tonight’s world soccer news headlines:

Premier League

• Arsenal join Chelsea in battle for Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney — The Guardian
• Liverpool arrive in Jakarta to ridiculous welcome — 101GG
• Tottenham bid to offload Emmanuel Adebayor hits snag as Besiktas struggle to match wage — Evening Standard
• Sebastien Bassong and Michael Turner miss Norwich’s US tour — Sky Sports
• Stewart Downing vows to remain at Liverpool despite West Ham speculation — The Independent
• Farewell to European Football Weekends — European Football Weekends blog
• Comcast SportsNet to be renamed with NBC Sports brand — Sports Media Watch
• José Mourinho confirms Chelsea will offer Wallace on 12-month loan — The Guardian

International soccer

• Blatter says protests could make blameless FIFA question letting Brazil host World Cup — Dirty Tackle
• Breakdown: Let’s take a look at the Gold Cup quarterfinals — Pro Soccer Talk
• Sepp Blatter reiterates desire for 2022 World Cup to be played in winter — The Guardian

Ligue Un

• Hulk agrees terms with Monaco, €60m fee mooted — 101 Great Goals
• PSG sign French left-back Lucas Digne from Lille — Sky Sports

Football League

• Jermaine Beckford completes move from Leicester City to Bolton Wanderers — ToffeeWeb

The Nightly Soccer Report is tomorrow’s news today. It’s often tomorrow morning’s worldwide newspaper headlines that are published the night before. We do all the work for you, combing the Internet and aggregating the news for you. Read The Nightly Soccer Report on World Soccer Talk every night before bed, so you can stay on top of all the news that matters.