22 Jul 2015

Rooney targets 20 goals this season

2:06 pm on 22 July 2015

Wayne Rooney has set himself a target of 20 goals this English Premier League football season, which would break Bobby Charlton's long-standing record as Manchester United's highest scorer of all time.

17 May 2015 - English Premier League - Manchester United v Arsenal - Wayne Rooney of Manchester United and his Son, Klay on the lap of appreciation.

17 May 2015 - English Premier League - Manchester United v Arsenal - Wayne Rooney of Manchester United and his Son, Klay on the lap of appreciation. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Rooney is already within one goal of United legend Charlton's England scoring record of 249.

United manager Louis van Gaal says he plans to use Wayne Rooney as a central striker next season.

29-year-old Rooney was used in midfield for much of last year.

On the possibility of a surprise signing, van Gaal says he's in the process, it's not a striker that the media has written but you'll have to wait and see.

Van Gaal was speaking before the second game of United's United States tour against MLS side San Jose Earthquakes.

United finished 4th last season.

Rooney last operated as a main striker in the 2011-12 campaign, when he scored 34 goals, his equal-highest personal haul.

He said if he's playing as a striker, then he'll be disappointed if I can't score 20 or more goals.

He hoped to score 20 in all competitions to reach 250, overhauling Charlton's tally of 249 for the club from 1956 to 1973.

Rooney says his best position - and he's always said it - is as a striker, getting into the box, the two seasons he's really done that as a lone striker were his two best goal-scoring seasons.

Rooney's 230 goals have come in 473 games, as opposed to Charlton's 748 matches. Denis Law, who scored 237 times in only 404 games, is currently second on United's all-time list.