London: England manager Fabio Capello claimed that Wayne Rooney could be a future England captain.

Capello has made clear Tuesday that he will rotate the captaincy among a number of candidates before choosing a preferred option before the World Cup qualifiers begin in the autumn.

And the combustible Manchester United forward looks set to be given his chance, possibly in the friendly against the US in May.

"I am undecided who will be captain for the next game, and Wayne Rooney is very young but I believe in the future he could be captain of England one day," Capello said.

"What are his qualities for the role? He is a leader, he is a good example on the pitch.

"Like I said, he is very young so we need to give him a bit more time to get some more experience and mature a bit.

"But I do believe he could one day be captain. He is the most talented young English player and the good thing is he has still got a big margin of improvement ahead of him."

Capello insists he is a big fan of Rooney, despite a lacklustre performance in the 1-0 defeat to France last month.

"He is very good at everything," he said. "The one thing he can improve is the number of chances he puts away.

"He doesn't convert as many as he could but I am sure that will come in the future."

Capello also made clear that he bears no grudge against Michael Owen, despite comments attributed to the Newcastle forward in which he seemed to suggest he was left confused by the coach's instructions.

"First of all, Michael Owen has denied making those comments to begin with and I have absolutely no problem with him," he said.

"There is no problem between him and me as far as I am concerned. My relationship with Michael Owen is the same as with all the players. A good manager should have that equal relationship whether it is with Michael Owen, David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand or anyone else. I have a group of players and Michael Owen is part of my plans," he said.

Source : DPA