Pulis not surprised by Rooney revelations

The Potters will be looking to make the most of the recent upheaval at Old Trafford when they play host to the Red Devils on Sunday.

And while Pulis said that he had been slightly taken aback by the Rooney revelations, he added that he has seen it all before.

“It happens everywhere and it has happened everywhere for donkey’s years,” Pulis said. “The only surprise is that it’s one of the best players England has got at the moment and he’s at one of the best clubs in the world.

“There's such a big fuss being made about it. But I think this has been going on for years. This isn’t the first case where a player’s said he wants to move. Money is power, that’s always been the same.

Pulis believes the old saying ‘money is power’ has never been more applicable to today’s Premier League, using Manchester City and Chelsea as examples of teams that have arguably bought success.

“You’ve only got to look back at what happened at other clubs,” Pulis said. “Manchester City have come into the game now, they’re a massive player. When Chelsea got taken over by Roman Abramovich, there were loads of players that you would never imagine leaving their clubs and going to Chelsea. It happens.

“Even Manchester United have attracted the best players because they’ve had the money, they’ve had the power. Chelsea got taken over, they had the money, they had the power. The best players went to Chelsea.

“Let’s not forget, Manchester City were only taken over last year, and they signed players that other clubs didn’t want to release, just look at the [Joleon] Lescott situation. Everton didn’t want to release Lescott.

“I heard managers saying ‘oh it’s such a surprise’, but for me it’s not a surprise, it’s been happening for years.”

By Luke Nicholls