WAYNE Rooney has accused Manchester United of lacking ambition.

Twenty-four hours after Sir Alex Ferguson’s devastating attack on his star striker, Rooney entered the fray.

In confirming he wishes to leave the Red Devils, the 24- year-old outlined why his future lies away from Old Trafford.

Ferguson claimed not to have an answer on Tuesday.

Last night, Rooney placed the Glazer family right in the spotlight, revealing that he asked for assurances from United chief executive David Gill in August about potential signings as he was concerned about the direction the club was heading in.

Last week, having been left completely unimpressed, the final blow was delivered.

“It is absolutely true that my agent and I have had a number of meetings with the club about a new contract,”

he said.

“During those meetings in August I asked for assurances about the continued ability of the club to attract the top players in the world.

“For me its all about winning trophies, as the club has always done under Sir Alex.

Because of that I think the questions I was asking were justified.

“I met with David Gill last week; he did not give me any of the assurances I was seeking about the future squad,”

said Rooney.

“I then told him I would not be signing a new contract.”

Rooney will hope his comments take away the stigma of greed which Ferguson raised with his own devastating attack.

They do, however, come from a player who has won three Premier League titles and a European Cup at United since his arrival in 2004, which is far more than old friend Steven Gerrard has managed at Liverpool in a longer period of time.

Gerrard’s club are now mired in the bottom three, while United are still in the top four, even though Rooney has only scored once this season – possibly his last goal for the club – from the penalty spot against West Ham in August.

However, they will certainly strike a chord with those United fans opposed to the Glazer regime, and have constantly campaigned against the huge levels of debt the Americans incurred with their hugely leveraged buyout.

Less than two weeks ago, United announced losses of £83.6m, from a record operating profit of £100m.

Yet these were written off by Gill, who emphasised the club’s healthy bank balance, which is in excess of £165m.

The problem for United’s anti-Glazer faction – and now Rooney it seems – is that the money remains unspent at a time when United are haemorrhaging star players.

Although both Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez departed in the summer of 2009, United failed to attract world-class replacements.

The Manchester United Supporters Trust view the obstacle as being a £526m bond, and payment-in-kind notes of over £220m levied against the family themselves and attracting interest at an horrific rate of 16.25 per cent.

Instead Ferguson brought in Michael Owen on a free transfer and Gabriel Obertan on a modest fee from Bordeaux to supplement Antonio Valencia, who arrived for £17m from Wigan.

United’s top target , Karim Benzema, went to Real Madrid instead, with Ferguson left to make the first of numerous claims that there was “no value in the market”.

When it was anticipated Ferguson would make major signings this summer following the loss of his side’s Premier League title, the Red Devils again limited their spending.

Javier Hernandez has made a decent impact following his arrival from Mexican outfit Chivas but England Under-21 international Chris Smalling has been purchased with an eye to the future.