By Simon Stone, PA Sport

Wayne Rooney has dismissed talk of a rift with England strike partner
Michael Owen.

Amid reports the Manchester United star has amassed a £700,000
gambling debt, there have been suggestions Rooney is furious with
Owen for letting him get sucked so heavily into the betting scene.

But a spokesmen for Rooney, and his management company Proactive
Sports Management, has flatly denied the claims.

"Any suggestion of a rift or a dispute between Wayne and Michael is
completely without foundation as far as Wayne is concerned," he said.

"Wayne and Michael remain the best of pals."

The statement will go some way to easing the concerns of England boss
Sven-Goran Eriksson, who intends to speak with Rooney and other
senior players over the allegations about rifts in the national camp.

Several of Rooney's England teammates are also reported to have
embarked on heavy gambling stints, although none have accrued losses
to such an extreme figure.

Eriksson's mission - through informal chats - will be to determine
whether any issues have arisen between players as a consequence.

If it does transpire there is unrest, the Swede would seek to nip the
problem in the bud, given only five weeks remain until England's
World Cup squad travel to southern Portugal for a pre-tournament
training camp.

Rooney seemed to show no ill effects from the adverse headlines as he
turned in a man-of-the-match display in Sunday's 2-0 win over Arsenal
at Old Trafford, after which manager Sir Alex Ferguson came out
swinging in his player's defence.

"It is pathetic," said Ferguson.

"We have had this with George Best, we had it with Paul Gascoigne and
we had it with David Beckham. We know Wayne Rooney. It is rubbish and
we shall dismiss it the best we can."

PFA deputy chief executive Mick McGuire is due to speak with Rooney's
advisors early to try and determine the extent of the 20-year-old's
problem.

And reformed gambling addict Steve Claridge has advised Rooney to
learn the lessons and move on.

Claridge laid bare his extraordinary gambling tales in his
autobiography 'Tales from the Boot Camp'.

And, while the veteran Walsall striker does not believe Rooney's
problem has spiralled out of control just yet, he has some valuable
advice for the brilliant youngster.

"He has to learn his lesson," Claridge told BBC Sport.

"I hope this has hurt him because if it has, then he will stop.

"People are saying he is an addict but that isn't the case. To a
normal man, the scale of that gambling debt is huge but £700,000
could just be a bit of fun to Wayne Rooney.

"It is all relative and that sum is just under a third of what he
earns in a year.

"However, I don't care who he is or what he does. In 20 years' time,
if he is still betting like that, he won't have a penny to his name."

Former England defender Gareth Southgate, meanwhile, insists measures
must be taken to protect young footballers from the dangers of
gambling.

Middlesbrough captain Southgate insists gambling is not necessarily a
problem in moderation but warned it must be monitored by those
responsible for players.

"Gambling is an addictive pastime but I think anything in moderation
is okay," he said.

"If it starts to get out of hand individuals would need to deal with
that.

"I think it's for club managers or the national manager to step in if
they feel there is an issue.

"People have always gambled in squads and to be honest sometimes in
the squads I was involved in it was good fun and it got people
together.

"But some of the sums being spoken at the moment would be disturbing
no matter that you're earning. There is a duty for everybody involved
at a club to look out for younger players and to try to make sure
those problems don't get out of hand."