Graphic: left of centre: how United have deployed their prize asset

It takes a certain kind of holidaymaker to return from a fortnight in Barbados without a tan, but there has always been something magnificently English about Wayne Rooney. Sunbathing, he says, does not agree with his pale complexion, so instead he retreated into the shade, venturing out only to cool down in the swimming pool or, when he could find some suitable headgear, for a round of golf.

Not for the first time, you are left with the impression of Rooney as the antithesis of Cristiano Ronaldo, the player who has left Manchester United behind to join Real Madrid for a world-record fee of £80 million. Ronaldo has spent much of the past fortnight in Los Angeles, cosying up to Paris Hilton, wearing flowers in his hair, turning a darker shade of mahogany and parading a pair of shorts that are tighter than a coat of emulsion. By contrast, a baggy-shorted Rooney has been lying low in the shade, keeping an eye on his freckles, fetching water for his pregnant wife, Coleen, and mulling over and over United’s defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League final in Rome a month ago.

Life in the shadows has come to hold a strong appeal for Rooney, but, when it comes to football, he craves the spotlight more than ever. He is the star turn who was effectively shunted into the chorus line at Old Trafford by Ronaldo’s emergence as a prima donna. But even had United won in Rome, even had Ronaldo still been around next season, Rooney would not have been swayed from his belief that the time has come to reclaim centre stage and to be single-minded about doing so.

Back in Cheshire over the weekend to attend the wedding of his agent and business manager, Paul Stretford, and to play in a golf event to raise funds for a maternity unit in Macclesfield, Rooney’s immediate response to questions about his wellbeing was that he was “still gutted”, even if three goals in two subsequent World Cup qualifying victories for England “softened the blow a bit”. But quickly the conversation moved on to next season, a campaign in which he has big plans not just for United and England but, significantly, for himself.

“For me personally, next season could be the season that transforms me from someone who could be a great player into someone who is a great player,” Rooney said. “That’s what I’m hoping. It’s a massive season for the club and for me personally, with the prize at the end of it being the World Cup. It’s a season which I want to grab with both hands.

“I want to play in the position where I feel I’m best. A lot of people think I’m best as a centre forward. I think I can fill the gap left by Cristiano and Carlos Tévez and I’m sure that, if I can play in my right position, I will do that.

“To play in a Champions League final and to play week in, week out for Manchester United is a privilege and it’s something I’m very lucky to be doing, but I don’t think playing on the wing I can express myself as much as I like to.”

In one sense, it seems remarkable to hear Rooney describe himself merely as “someone who could be a great player”, but, when pushed, he talks of room for improvement, of potential that has still to be fulfilled.

Far more striking are his repeated references to being played “in my right position”, using that exact phrase four times over the course of the interview. It sounds very much like a young man trying to make a point to the boss. His respect for Sir Alex Ferguson is total, as he makes clear, but the United manager cannot have failed to hear this drum being banged with increasing force in recent weeks as Rooney’s long-awaited emergence as a goalscoring centre forward for England has continued.

On United’s pre-season tour to South Africa last summer, Ferguson talked of the need to “define Wayne’s role better” and to “play fair” with him, which meant playing him “through the middle, either the front role or tucking in just behind”.

Ferguson was true to his word for much of the season, but by the time the big matches came around in the Champions League in April and May, Rooney was resigned to starting on the left wing.