image: guardian.co.uk

Man Utd's club doctor Mike Stone (pictured) has quit Old Trafford after a row with the increasingly irritable Sir Alex Ferguson. Though the club deny Stone's resignation is down "a difference of opinion on a non-footballing and non-clinical issue," speculation is rife that, like so many other things this summer, this all revolves around Wayne Rooney's broken metatarsals.

fergie can't be happy with the optimism surrounding Rooney's progress, and isn't keen for the striker to take part in the World Cup. Crucially, Rooney's much anticipated MRI scan is due tomorrow (May 25th) and Stone's dismissal may have some bearing on how that test is carried out, as he was the man directly responsible for Rooney's treatment, in close liaison with England doctor Leif Sward.