WAYNE ROONEY is going to the World Cup finals, but the extent of his participation remains a subject of feverish debate and will do so for weeks to come. A country that had never heard of the metatarsal until David Beckham broke one four years ago now appears full of orthopaedic experts, all with an opinion.

The outlook is reasonably positive, but for England’s star striker to take the field in Germany, his fractured right foot must continue to heal well, his team-mates will have to ensure that they do not lose to Paraguay or Trinidad & Tobago with Peter Crouch in attack — and Rooney himself must not do anything daft in the intervening weeks. Reports that he was dancing at David Beckham’s recent party may have perturbed his doctors and it is believed that the striker may even have missed one rehabilitation session to travel back to Manchester.

Sir Alex Ferguson alluded yesterday to the responsibility on Rooney to be conscientious. “Wayne has got to work hard at that himself to make sure that he is having the proper rest and that he is wearing the orthopaedic boot at the right times, particularly in the training part,” the Manchester United manager said. “Wayne has to take care of himself. It’s not just about what we can do from the medical point of view.”

The sight of Rooney carrying a copy of Pelé’s autobiography yesterday was, hopefully, a sign that he intends to do nothing more strenuous than put his feet up before joining up with England’s World Cup squad for the first time in Manchester tomorrow night.

The fact that he is being allowed to meet up and to travel to England’s base camp in Baden-Baden on June 5 was enough to enthuse the Football Association yesterday, given fears that United — and Ferguson in particular — might be over-protective of their prized asset. Sven-Göran Eriksson, the England head coach, and Ferguson were said to have shared a constructive phone conversation yesterday and, if tensions remain, they were being well disguised.

“The most damaging thing which has been said is that we do not want Wayne Rooney to go (to Germany),” Ferguson told MUTV. “If there is one player I want to play in the World Cup, it is him. I have told him that from day one.

“If you think of the experience he will get from going to the World Cup as a 20-year-old, it will only benefit the player and benefit Manchester United.”

United did, though, insist that Rooney should return from Germany for his next scan, on June 14, the day before England’s second group game, against Trinidad & Tobago. Coming a little more than six weeks after he suffered his injury against Chelsea, it could give Rooney the all-clear to resume full training.

The highly optimistic scenario remains an appearance off the bench in England’s last group game, against Sweden six days later, but Eriksson, who described yesterday’s update as “very encouraging”, will not want to be forced into that out of desperation. He will hope that he does not have to call on Rooney before the last-16 game on June 24 or 25, when the likely opponents are Germany or Poland.

Provided England progress from group B, Rooney should play some part in the finals, although Ferguson, predictably, added a note of caution yesterday. “The next scan is the key one,” he said. “Hopefully the fracture will heal completely by June 14, but if not, then it’s impossible. Our medical staff said it would be a six-week job to get back to training and we have never strayed from that.

“We’ve been right all along and kept an even keel because there is an inclination to be too optimistic. Because he is young, he doesn’t feel any pain and this is the dangerous area.”

Rooney, who has been exercising on a bike, will do some light jogging next week at United’s Carrington base as the rest of his England team-mates take on Hungary and Jamaica in warm-up matches. His World Cup Armani suit looks certain to get some use, but it remains to be seen how long he must wait to pull on the No 9.