Manchester United manager David Moyes was in no mood to discuss Wayne Rooney’s future at the club yesterday but a week’s training in Australia has certainly convinced him of Robin van Persie’s value to the team.

A comment made by the Scotsman to reporters in Thailand last weekend, to the effect that Rooney was important in case anything happened to Van Persie, has left the England striker “angered and confused” about his position at Old Trafford.

Premier League rivals Chelsea this week pounced to make a cash bid for the 27-year-old, who left Manchester United’s pre-season tour early to receive treatment on a hamstring injury, but the offer was rebuffed by the English champions.

At a news conference ahead of today’s second tour match against an A-League All-Star XI in Sydney, Moyes curtly dismissed an enquiry about Rooney’s future by saying the club’s position “hasn’t changed”.

Moyes does expect to hear more news about a bid for Cesc Fabregas over the next “day or so”, however, and he waxed lyrical about the “massive” importance of the Barcelona midfielder’s former Arsenal team-mate Van Persie.

“I got to see him this week for the first time, and his control, his touch, his awareness... the finishing that he’s done this week,” he said, almost in awe of the skills of the Dutchman who scored 30 goals for United last season.

“And I’ve really been impressed by his professionalism as well. He’s never complained about a thing, he’s got on with the work, he’s trained hard.

“What we’re doing is trying to get him in a condition where he is ready to do exactly what he did last year, which was score goals for Manchester United and was a really big influence on the team and the performances.

“So we’re hoping to get more of that this season.”

Michael Carrick concurred with his manager over the significance of Van Persie’s prolific goalscoring after joining the club for £24 million ($36.48 million) last season.

“For us the players, to see the goals flying in, was great and the impact he made throughout the season was amazing for a first season at the club,” the England midfielder said.

Moyes said Van Persie, who joined the squad in Sydney after missing their defeat in Thailand last weekend, was likely to play only in the second half today.

“We’ve over-trained him this week to try and build up his fitness,” he said.

“We’ve not come with a massive amount in the squad and it’ll mean that everyone will play at some time in the game, well, that’s the plan.”

Welbeck option

Another forward option for Moyes is England’s Danny Welbeck, who the Scot said was important for the future of the club even if he only managed two goals for United last season.

“He had a couple of chances the other night but it would have been worse if he wasn’t getting any chances,” Moyes said.

“Hopefully, he’ll start getting one or two of them and it will give him the confidence to start scoring plenty of goals.”