TONY ADAMS has warned Wayne Rooney that he would struggle to cope with life in London’s bright lights.
Arsenal and Chelsea are keen on the unsettled Manchester United forward but Adams fears there would be too many distractions in the capital.
Roo has regularly grabbed the headlines for the wrong reasons with his exploits off the pitch, and the spotlight on him will intensify if he makes the move south.
Adams, 46, is well-placed to talk about struggling to cope with the London lifestyle after a well-publicised battle with alcoholism during his 19-year career at Arsenal.
The Arsenal legend said: “I’m not sure Wayne Rooney could handle London, to be completely honest. That would be a massive risk.
“I don’t think it’s a question of finances. I think it’s his temperament and mentality. London is a different animal and it takes a different type of player.
Wayne is unquestionably a super player and I’d love to see him at the Arsenal. Technically he’s fantastic but I’m not sure about him mentally, off the pitch, and his professionalism.
“I know Sir Alex Ferguson has dealt with Wayne brilliantly over the last few years and I’m sure Arsene Wenger could handle him, but I’m not sure. I wouldn’t like to spend my money on Wayne.”
Another player Adams has reservations about is Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain, a £20million target for the Gunners.
Adams, who won four top-flight titles before retiring in 2002, said: “My fear is that if Real don’t want him, you are coming in under that.
“If you want to compete with Real Madrid you don’t get their cast-offs. You need the best players in the league to win the league.”
As revealed in yesterday’s SunSport, Adams has offered his help to the Arsenal board to end their eight-year trophy drought.
If Wenger fails to win silverware next season it will be a guaranteed decade without a success, with their last honour coming in the 2005 FA Cup final.
Adams reckons the key to new success is to bring massive names to the club rather than spreading the budget over lower-profile players.
He said: “The finance is there but Arsene should restructure a bit to put four or five players on top, top money, rather than a lot of players on £50,000 a week. Put a few on a hundred thousand-odd and get top players in the spine of the team.
“Arsenal have around £150million to play with on the wage bill and can work it differently to make some strong, difficult decisions.
“Instead of picking three and one might come through, pick one and say: ‘That’s our man, give him everything’. And if you keep selling your best players you don’t win anything.
“Every Arsenal supporter wants to win something after going a few years without winning.
“I don’t know if anyone else but Arsene can do that for the club — he is the best suited for me.
“The scouts are working around the world but there are other clubs with fantastic resources and it’s tougher to find these players.”
Adams repeated his offer to help Arsenal. He said: “Arsene can’t go on for ever. There will come a time they will need a new coach and maybe I can help or advise in some way.”
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Originally Posted by Josh_Gooner
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