Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he hopes to play Wayne Rooney in a more central role this season.
The England international was regularly forced to adapt his game last term as he was asked to play out wide.
Rooney has openly admitted that he would prefer to be deployed down the middle, and it appears that his manager may be about to grant him his wish.
"Yes, Rooney will go through the middle this season, there's no doubt about that," Ferguson said in the News of the World.
"Last season was a lot to do with Dimitar Berbatov coming to the club and trying to understand what he was best at.
"You have to utilise what you have available. In some games Wayne played wide left and in some matches it worked, but in others it was not a good position for him. We will change that."
Rooney will be forced to help carry the burden of goalscoring expectancy this season, alongside Berbatov and Michael Owen, with Ferguson admitting he is concerned as to how he is going to counter the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo.
"That is a concern because I don't have a midfielder like a young Paul Scholes or a young Ryan Giggs who can give me 15-plus goals a season from midfield," he added.
"We will have to redirect our play a little bit more, but Rooney is maturing, Owen Hargreaves will be playing again in September, Nani and Anderson are in their third years and Michael Carrick is more mature."
