David Moyes reveals 'brutal honesty' strategy for 'soft' Wayne Rooney triggered new 300,000-pound deal

Manchester United manager David Moyes has revealed that a management strategy of 'brutal honesty' with their star player Wayne Rooney, which included telling him that he had gone 'soft as a player', was the trigger behind Rooney's new five-year 300,000 pounds-a-week deal.

The personal challenge laid down to Rooney has been only one reason for the player's turnaround after the then 250,000 pounds-a-week footballer had allegedly revealed that his feelings had been hurt by comments Moyes made on the club's pre-season tour.

According to The Independent, Moyes made the bold and potentially `high-risk` move of inviting Rooney to his house and telling him that he believes Rooney has gone a 'bit soft' as a player, and the Scot said that he thought Rooney had not been the hard-working, aggressive player he was in the past.

Fortunately for Moyes, Rooney agreed upon his own weakness and accepted that he needed to get to a level of fitness where he was able to produce again, and Moyes said that the player is able to produce again and has become an all-round team player, along with a technically gifted footballer.

The report further said that the strategy has been to rebuild United around a player who will now command more money than any other Premier League player.

Moyes insisted on Friday that the question of Rooney's captaincy would be deferred until the close season, adding that among the line of arguments, the fact that Rooney could become a part of Old Trafford lore as the club's all-time greatest goalscorer if he stayed, also worked.

United has only 12 games left to make good the 11-point lead established by fourth-placed Liverpool, the report added.