Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, believes Wayne Rooney's immaculate pre-season preparation will herald his best season yet for the club.

The 21-year-old striker has not played a competitive match since United's FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea in May, and hence enjoyed his first football-free summer for four years.

"Wayne's incredible, a very strong character and he will be a big player next season, believe me," Ferguson said. "He'll have a great season because this is the first time since he joined the club that he will have had a proper pre-season with us. The likes of Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo are young lads who could play all day long, but the summer break will benefit everyone because they have been away for a long time."

Ferguson also praised Rooney's commitment and desire to improve. "Wayne is the first to the training ground every morning. It's unbelievable, but he just loves football and training," he said.

United's four-match tour of Asia comes to close today with a game against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical in China. When the players return they will begin preparation for the FA Community Shield clash against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on August 5, a game Rooney hopes will bring the first of many trophies in the forthcoming campaign.

"I would take any trophy," he said. "Obviously, we want to do well and win the title again. But the Champions League is such a massive tournament, I would like to win that too. I don't feel there is any extra pressure on us because of what happened last season. You are always expected to perform at Manchester United."

The England striker scored 23 goals last season on the way to collecting his first Premiership medal, but hopes to improve on that number this year. "I was pleased with the number of goals I scored last season - but I do want more," he said. "I don't tend to set myself targets. But in every season in my career so far I have done better than the last, so I hope that trend will continue."

As for the arrivals of Nani, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves at Old Trafford, Rooney said."This is definitely the strongest squad I have been involved in since I came to United.There are more players and better quality players as well. There's a good mix of youth and experience, which is great for the team. The competition for places is going to be huge. Everyone is going to have to be on top of their game and try their best to get into the team."