Rooney's Premiership side have been accused of deliberately lying in an attempt to prevent Wayne Rooney from playing at the World Cup.

A statement released, at the behest of the FA and Rooney, on Friday evening by the two independent medical experts who treated his broken foot flatly contradicted previous Old Trafford claims about the striker's injury.

According to Professors Angus Wallace and Chris Moran, Rooney was able to recover from his broken foot in just seven weeks because the injury was unusual.

"We were able to confirm that this fracture was quite different from the typical metatarsal shaft fracture, but was a fracture involving the spongy bone at the base of the metatarsal," the statement read. "This bone heals approximately three times more quickly than the hard bone of the metatarsal shaft. Wayne had discomfort in his foot for only five days and has now been pain-free for six weeks."

As noted by The Guardian, 'The statement exposes United's misleading and inaccurate public declaration on May 29 that it was a double fracture, making it "an injury which takes longer to heal".'