Roy Hodgson will not be making a summer swoop for Wayne Rooney.

Not that anyone is suggesting otherwise, mind you.

That was just the Fulham manager’s terse response to whether he agreed with former Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón’s assessment that the Manchester United striker is worth £80million.

The question was put to Hodgson – one of the game’s more cerebral managers – after Rooney’s double had helped sink Fulham 3-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday, and its asker was given short shrift.

“I wouldn’t have any opinions on the subject of what players are worth or not worth,” he said.

“We don’t have that kind of money to spend.

“And I think it is fairly pointless for me to waste everyone’s time saying I also think Wayne Rooney is an excellent player because you can get that from the man in the pub.

“What does it matter whether the man in the pub says he is good or Roy Hodgson says he is good?”

Having dealt with the Rooney factor more easily than any of his defenders had, the Fulham boss preferred to talk up his own team, claiming they had admirably handled the extra burden of the Europa League this season, despite stretched resources.

“I think we have coped with it better than anyone could have expected, especially given the fact that, in January, we lost five players,” said Hodgson, whose side also take on Tottenham Hotspur in an FA Cup quarter-final replay next Wednesday.

“We have done remarkably well to keep going and it is going to be very important for us to get through this period.

“My major concern is that, having done so well, if we go out of any of the competitions, it will impact on us – it will be very important that that doesn’t happen.

“We can’t allow our season, which has been quite fantastic up to the middle of March, to slip away.”

Fulham’s next three games: Mar 21 Manchester City (h), 24 Tottenham (FA Cup replay, a), 27 Hull City (a).