Firstly, I would like to thank you very much for playing for us with such distinction for six years. It has been a pleasure to see you terrorise our opponents and kiss the club badge every time you scored a goal. It is a testament to your abilities as a footballer that a Liverpudlian should be so welcomed into the arms of Mancunia.
In light of the quality of your football, it was no drama at all for us to rally around you after your petulant sending off in the 2006 World Cup. It was also a matter of duty for us to support you after your abject displays in South Africa.
We have chanted your name, and thrown the full weight of our support behind you, despite consistent off-the-field incidents involving cigarettes, alcohol and ladies of the night.
When, in March, you stated your desire to stay with the club until the end of your career, till death us do part, it was a terrific boon for us all. That vow of allegiance really gave credence to the values of support that we so cherish.
As you know Wayne, we fans have been doing it tough of late. Our love of the club has been horribly muddied by the ownership issue and the fact that the money we spend in good faith is being used to finance debt we didn’t accrue.
It would be lovely if our hard-earned cash were being spent on people like Leo Messi and Fernando Torres, men who would probably keep you out of the team. But the thing is, United have never really operated like that. We usually either raise or buy players young and blood them in the first team, onto greater heights.
I suppose you would have known all that. But it is irrelevant now because you’re leaving. I suppose you’ll end up in Madrid and Barcelona. I wish you good luck with the Spanish lessons and if you need any tips on how good life is after United give David Beckham a call, he’ll tell you.
Alternatively, you’ll end up in London with Chelsea and John Terry. The nightlife down there is fantastic and if you ever get lonely there’s no need to worry. All of your friends from the press, the guys who’ve been so terrific to you over the last little bit, are just around the corner. All the time.
Of course, you could choose to stay local and pop down the road to Manchester City. That’d be nice wouldn’t it? Although I can’t speak for all of us, I suspect being ‘out and about’ in the town should be removed from your schedule if that’s the case.
You could have stayed at United Wayne, as you pledged to do, through thick and thin, but after the last week that’s not really an option. The options open to you look peachy and free of grief. Good luck with the big decision.
Anyway Wayne, we’ve got to get busy with the two things that concern us the most now. Winning football matches and getting rid of the Glazers. You’re obviously no use to us on either count now so you’d better get going.
We wish you all the best with the next club badge you kiss.
Try not to let the door hit you on the way out, there's a good lad.
Regards
Mark Payne
Manchester United Correspondent, ESPN
