For as long as he continues to bewitch his audience and score important goals, Cristiano Ronaldo will attract overtures from the top clubs on the Continent, but the aristocrats of Italian and Spanish football can forget any idea of trying to entice one of Ronaldo’s fellow Manchester United galácticos to foreign shores, it seems.

For Wayne Rooney, Arsenal’s success in joining United in the quarter-finals of the Champions League confirmed what he has long believed: that there is nowhere better to play his football than in England.

Having once worn a T-shirt bearing the logo “Once a blue, always a blue” in his Everton days, Rooney knows better than most how quickly life can change, but the forward cannot envisage playing his club football for anyone other than United. Moving overseas still holds a fascination for some English players, but for Rooney there is no place like home.

“English football has improved so much in the past few seasons,” Rooney said. “We have proved we have the best league in the world, which is why we attract the best players in the world. It’s down to English players if they decide to play abroad, but for me, English football is the best. I love playing here and I’m pretty sure that will never change.”

It would not be in keeping with United’s modus operandi to talk up Arsenal’s victory at the San Siro on Tuesday evening — “It’s a good result because it’s a difficult place to go to, but it was a difficult situation for Milan because they were in trouble if they conceded a goal,” Rooney said — but the North London club’s 2-0 win marked them as serious contenders to lift the European Cup.

With Liverpool well placed to join them in the last eight as they take a 2-0 lead to Inter Milan for the second leg of their first knockout round tie next week — Chelsea romped through at the expense of Olympiacos last night — there could be a powerful English presence in the quarter-final line-up, but Rooney would prefer to avoid Barclays Premier League opposition next month — out of patriotism, he is keen to emphasise, rather than fear.

“There’s no denying that was a good result for Arsenal,” Rooney said. “I think it would be nice if all the English teams could stay apart and go further. It would be better for English football if we all progress.

“It would be a shame if we drew each other and some teams were knocked out. We know Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool are good teams, so if we did get one of them it would be tough, but at this stage of the competition, whoever you get will be difficult.”

While Ronaldo spoke of his desire to “win everything”, Rooney was reluctant to talk up United’s prospects of repeating their treble of 1999. They have yet to fire on all cylinders in this season’s competition, beating Lyons 2-1 on aggregate on Tuesday without threatening to reach top form in either leg, but Rooney is optimistic that they can go better than last season, when they fell to Milan at the semi-final stage.

“We do have a lot of match- winners,” the England forward said. “At the end of last season we had a lot of injuries and a few tired players, but this is a big squad and hopefully the rotation policy will help. If we get to the last four again, hopefully we’ll be a lot fresher because a lot of the players won’t have played as many games as they did last season.”

The Champions League final on May 21 takes place at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, where England’s European Championship qualifying hopes were dented by Russia in October. Rooney said that the disappointment of England’s failure “still burns inside”, but winning the Champions League would go a long way towards easing the pain.

Threats to British rule

These are the teams who could stand between England’s representatives in the Champions League and European glory. The draw for the quarter-finals and the semi-finals will be held a week tomorrow in Nyon, Switzerland. Teams from the same country can be drawn against each other.

Fenerbahçe The Turkish club have been the surprise package of this season’s competition and are appearing in the quarter-finals for the first time. Any team managed by Zico, the legendary former Brazil midfield player, demand respect, but Fenerbahçe have not won away in the Champions League for more than three years.

AS Roma Francesco Totti demands respect, but English teams will not lose sleep about facing a team who lost 7-1 at Old Trafford last April, even though the Italians held their nerve to beat Real Madrid in Spain last night.

Barcelona Frank Rijkaard’s team are joint favourites, but their away form is patchy and they are struggling to keep up with Real in the Spanish league. Failed to win away to Lyons, Rangers and VfB Stuttgart in the group stage and Lionel Messi has been ruled out for six weeks because of a thigh injury.

Schalke 04 Lost 2-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in November and should pose few problems for English opposition. Won the Uefa Cup by beating Inter Milan on penalties in 1997 but are unlikely to be parading the European Cup around Gelsenkirchen in May.

Inter Milan No one will want to draw the Italian league leaders if Roberto Mancini’s team recover from 2-0 down to beat Liverpool at the San Siro on Tuesday. Inter are six points clear at the top of Serie A and have not lost at home this season.

Words by Kaveh Solhekol

Odds checker

2-1 All-Premier League final

8-15 Winners to come from Premier League

7-4 Manchester United to fare best of Premier League sides, 2-1 Chelsea, 5-2 Arsenal, 5-1 Liverpool

Source: William Hill