There are some (subjective) reasons why Rooney will never be one of my favourite players, but he still is the second best English player (Ashley Cole being the best, another player i don't like much).
And perhaps Rooney is even more important for English football because he plays in (several) positions where he can make the difference for both his club and country.
IMO Man Utd should do everything possible to hold on to the player Rooney, he is one hell of a player and IMO is the victim of his versatility. People mention Kagawa here, well Kagawa is one of my favourite players, but if i try to be rational and objective, i think Rooney still is a lot better than Kagawa.
The only negative thing IMO is that Rooney seems to lack the hunger, hence his weight problems. But maybe having a new manager might help...maybe Rooney just was fed up with Ferguson (this happens everywhere despite having a good boss, some of the people working for him just have had it with their boss and can't seem to be motivated by him/her).
Yesterday i read something Van Der Sar said about Rooney and i completely agreed. van Der Sar said that English football fans have always expected way too much from Rooney and that maybe that is why Rooney seems to have lost the hunger other players have.
It's time somebody with some empathy has a good talk with Rooney, he still is one of the 20 best players in the world and i'm pretty sure he still is an important player for United.