Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish admits he is "amazed" Wayne Rooney wants to quit Manchester United and fears player power is gripping the game.
McLeish played under United boss Sir Alex Ferguson when Aberdeen lifted the European Cup Winners Cup and broke up the dominance of Rangers and Celtic in Scotland during the 1980s.
Rooney has questioned United's ambition after confirming his desire to quit the club and indicating he will not sign a new contract. But McLeish has seen Ferguson bounce back before after lean times and believes Rooney is making a big mistake.
McLeish said: "I am amazed that Wayne Rooney wants to leave Manchester United. He is still young and he has got years ahead of him.
"It is not my business but Sir Alex knows the best way to handle it. There is no better man to handle a situation like that than Sir Alex."
McLeish added: "Player power has been bubbling under for a long, long time. It has come to the surface over the last few years.
"I've seen stories in the past of players saying we are going to have a meeting about the manager's future and it ends up the manager leaves his job.
"It is quite incredible, the power of the players. At the end of the day, to be a great manager you do have to have great players.
"We are aware of that but it has got a bit of madness in there over the last few years."
McLeish has no doubt Ferguson will revive United's fortunes even if Rooney departs.
He said: "Sir Alex had a couple of bad seasons before and then you see what they've gone on to achieve after that.
"Just when people write off Sir Alex, he goes and does it again, winning the championship two or three times again and winning the European Cup again."
McLeish also believes United will have no problem in attracting top quality players. He said: "I can't see for the life of me why Manchester United won't be able to attract the best.
"There will be a queue from here to Glasgow in terms of players wanting to join Manchester United."
