As Manchester United continued preparations for the defence of their Barclays Premier League crown with a defeat by Inter Milan at Old Trafford last night, it emerged that the club have signed a nine-year-old wonder-kid dubbed “the next Wayne Rooney” from the other side of the world.

A goal from Rooney could not prevent United from losing 3-2 to the Italian champions, but United may have discovered the England forward’s heir after signing Rhain Davis, a gifted playmaker who was born in England but moved to Brisbane in Australia when he was four.

Davis came to the attention of United’s scouts after the boy’s grandfather sent them a DVD of him playing for an Under-10s team in Brisbane and, after impressing on trial, he has now joined the club’s academy.

Davis moved back to England with his father, Mark, a restaurateur, last month and is now living in Mobberley, Cheshire, a short distance from United’s Carrington training ground.

His mother and two siblings are 11,000 miles away in Australia, although they plan to return to England in the coming months. United sign about 40 children of his age every year. “Being here has been brilliant so far,” Davis said. “The best part has been meeting lots of the players like Wayne Rooney.”

While Davies is only just embarking on his career, however, that of a player whose success he would do well to emulate appears to be drawing to a close.

With just a year remaining on his contract at Old Trafford, Edwin van der Sar has hinted that he may retire at the end of the season, although the Manchester United and Holland goalkeeper insisted that he will not make a decision about his future until January at the earliest.

“If I’m still enjoying myself then we will see, but for the moment nothing will be decided before January,” the 36-year-old said. “I’m not going to overenjoy it just because it might be my last. I’ve had a great career and I’m just going to get on with things.”

Sir Alex Ferguson, meanwhile, has revealed that United have the option to buy back Giuseppe Rossi should Vil-larreal want to sell the Italy Under-21 striker, who signed a six-year contract with the Spanish club yesterday.