Rooney new deal could be another Ronaldo deal. He might still leave Man Utd.

Alex Ferguson could not hide his delight at the superstar signing a new deal to commit himself to the club for another five years.

Fergie said: "It's fantastic news. He has a great relationship with the team, staff and fans and will be one of Manchester United's great players."

And the player added: "I am delighted. I spoke with Sir Alex and David Gill about my future and everyone knew that I wanted to stay. I am very happy at the club. I want to win trophies and, hopefully, we'll do that this season."

That was April 2007 - and the player was Cristiano Ronaldo.

Fergie added at the time: "It emphasises the point that Cristiano is at the right club."

A year later, Ronaldo was adamant he was not at the right club and wanted to leave and Ferguson had to accept it.

The Old Trafford gaffer managed to persuade him to stay for another year and then he would allow the player's dream move to Real Madrid go through.

So United fans should not rest too easy just yet...

What Rooney signing a new contract has ensured for United is that his transfer value has rocketed again. Had he gone in January, it could have been £40million, or worse still, £25m next summer.

With just next season left on his contract, other clubs would have known United were desperate to get rid of him.

Now, with a new five-year deal, you can double any prospective transfer fee.

And let us not be fooled here.

Rooney has genuine concerns over the future of a club that is £750m in debt and is not splashing out on the world's best players. Has he suddenly decided the squad he did not think was good enough now is?

And a week after chief executive Gill could not give him any assurances about future spending, he suddenly now has, has he?

You can be sure Rooney will be keeping a close eye on the next two transfer windows to see if any of the assurances he was given over the last 48 hours are followed through.

If not, this story is likely to explode again next summer. It remains to be seen if anything does change or if, like Ronaldo, the club are putting things off.

It was not until Rooney spent time with the boss at United's training HQ yesterday that he was finally convinced to stay.

Ferguson had said all week the door was open. Rooney walked through it yesterday and was charmed by the great manager.

The door might have to stay open because Rooney could well be coming back through it in eight months, just as Ronaldo did.