Manchester United's Wayne Rooney reacts after their English Premier League soccer match against Arsenal at Old Trafford in Manchester, northern England, Aug 28, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Wayne Rooney is back in explosive form after trying to resolve the stresses in his life.

For one, the Manchester United and England striker concluded his head was just not right. Alarmed by his thinning thatch, Rooney risked ridicule in the offseason by undergoing a US$50,000 hair transplant.

And the results with those new follicles now covering his scalp.

"I've spent more time in the mirror," Rooney quipped on Tuesday at the England team hotel. "I'm sure some of you who are going bald, it's a bit stressful. So I made a decision to get it done. I thought, why not?"

It came at the end of a season to forget for Rooney, aside from another Premier League winner's medal.

Exactly a year ago, while also on England duty, Rooney woke up to lurid tabloid claims that he cheated repeatedly on his then-pregnant wife Coleen with a prostitute. Rooney's public stock was already at rock bottom after failing to score at the 2010 World Cup where he complained about fans' jeers into a TV camera.

Even Rooney's club did not prove to be a sanctuary, with the 25-year-old forward enraging United fans and teammates in October by publicly threatening to quit. But after complaining about United's inability to compete in the transfer market for top players, Rooney was soon rewarded with a lucrative new contract.

"What I did was wrong," he said. "I am thankful that I stayed and signed. It's the best decision I have made in my football career."

"It was frustrating (last season) because I knew I could do better," he said. "I was working hard in training and in games but things weren't coming off. It is hard to come to terms with that. It would have been quite easy to lose confidence in myself and my ability to come back to my best. Obviously I saw people on TV or in the newspapers questioning me but in a way that helped because I wanted to prove they were wrong."