WAYNE Rooney has confessed he counts his blessings at being a footballer — otherwise he might have joined the PRIESTHOOD.

The ex-school dunce said the only thing apart from soccer that interested him as a kid was religious studies.

England striker Roo, 23, said of his footie career: “I haven’t a clue what else I could have done. I wasn’t really the best in school.”

But pressed to pick another profession, he admitted: “I always enjoyed RE — so maybe a priest.”

Man United ace Rooney has since shown he was not exactly cut out for the priesthood — after visiting brothels, swearing at refs and getting sent off in the World Cup for going ape at Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

He was speaking at the launch of Coke Zero’s campaign to find the nation’s best young street footballer.

For the first time yesterday he showed off his injured left ear — which needed 45 stitches after he fell aboard a holiday yacht — as he drove to pre-season training.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that he will not be making any more summer signings after explaining that he refuses to pay the inflated fees of Europe's top stars.

Ferguson believes that the transfer market has 'caught fire' this summer with players' valuations going through the roof.

The Scot highlighted that he is used to paying over the odds for players but he would not be held to ransom over certain prospective targets.

It means that United fans will have to make do with the arrivals of Antonio Valencia, Michael Owen, who has been handed the number seven shirt, and Gabriel Obertan as the Premier League champions get accustomed to life without Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

"It is the end of our business, so all these stories about who we are supposed to be getting - forget it," he said.

"Everywhere in England and in Europe the players' values have shot sky high. I don't think any of the transfers that you see happening are realistic but for some reason it seems to have caught fire this summer.

"It is a very unusual summer and difficult to get value because of that."

Good enough squad
Despite recently being linked with the likes of Sergio Aguero and Douglas Costa, Ferguson was confident he already had enough quality in his squad to compete on all fronts this season.

"That's always been the case with Manchester United, we have always had to pay a bit extra," he added.

"But this summer we are not prepared to do that because you have got to understand we have got some very good young players.

"We have a very good squad and there is no need to ever need a jerk reaction to losing Cristiano because we did very well to keep him for six years and it was his moment to leave and we allowed him to do that.

"We shouldn't panic because of one player leaving. I think we have a very, very good squad with some good young players in all positions."


Experience
The Red Devils chief also pointed out that he was keen to bring in someone with the experience of Owen to complement the youthfulness of Obertan and Valencia.

"What I have done is bring in some youth with Gabriel and Antonio and brought in an old codger like Michael just to balance things up," he joked.

"But experience is vital. Also with Michael you will see the experience he will give us in the penalty box. He will score goals because that is what he has been great at for years and years.

"You always had to be aware of him in his movement of his runs and the most difficult thing was the timing of his runs.

"I used to say that to the players, don't let him stand you in the penalty box, and he has always had that knack of losing defenders in the final third."

United are moving closer to signing Douglas Costa, the highly rated Brazil Under-20 midfield player, from Grêmio.

The Brazilian club are holding out for about £20 million — close to the release clause stated in the player’s contract — but United are reluctant to pay that much and hope that a compromise can be reached shortly.

United initially wanted to take Douglas, 18, on a three-week trial, but while that request was rejected by Grêmio, negotiations over a permanent deal are continuing.

Douglas would be United’s fourth signing of the summer after Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan, with senior sources at the club insisting that they have no interest in buying Samuel Eto’o, the Barcelona striker.

So is anyone watching the showpiece of Cricket between England and Australia?

It is day Five of the first test now and England have done well today but I am not sure it will be enough because Swann has just gone and so it will be very hard to get a draw!

So who does everyone think will win the Ashes?

Striker Fraizer Campbell has completed his £3.5m move from Manchester United to Sunderland after signing a four-year contract with the Wearsiders.

The deal for the 21-year-old forward, who was also wanted by Hull manager Phil Brown, could rise to £6m.

He passed a medical on Saturday to become Steve Bruce's first signing.

Campbell had a loan spell with Hull during the 2007-08 campaign, when he scored 15 goals, and spent much of last season at Tottenham.

He made just one league start for Spurs but played a part in helping them get to the Carling Cup final, although he was ineligible to play against United in the final.

The England Under-21 international came through United's academy set up and made his debut for the first team when he came off the bench against Manchester rivals City in August 2007.

His only Premier League start for the Old Trafford club came against Newcastle at the start of last season.

Sunderland boss Bruce is expected to spend big this summer, with the promised backing of millionaire owner Ellis Short convincing him to leave Wigan to take over as boss at the Stadium of Light.

Bruce failed with a bid for Wigan midfielder Lee Catermole on Friday and has been linked with Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch and Tottenham forward Darren Bent.

With the club deciding against a move for Djibril Cisse, following the end of his loan spell, and allowing Michael Chopra to join Cardiff, the forward position was one area Bruce has been looking to strengthen.