Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed striker Wayne Rooney wants to leave the club.
Rooney's future has been the subject of intense speculation over the last few days following reports that the England striker was unprepared to sign a new contract.
Ferguson said: "David (Gill, chief executive) in the early part of the summer had opened talks with his agent and that was to be continued after the World Cup.
"I was in the office on August 14 and David phoned me to say he wasn't signing a contract.
"I was dumbfounded. Only months before he was saying he was at the greatest club in the world.
"I asked to have a meeting with the boy.
"He reiterated what his agent said, that he wanted to go."
Ferguson admitted he was stunned by Rooney's stance but confirmed the door remained open for the former Everton man.
"We cannot quite understand why he would want to leave," he said.
"I can do no more than I have said at the moment because we still, to my mind, have the door open."
