Except now you have a much better forward in Van Judas, one who will continue to deliver and not prove to be a distraction or draw negative attention upon himself. Face it, teams love it when he lines up in the midfield - and United have two capable young back-ups in Hernandez and Welbeck (provided he can learn to score against teams that aren't Arsenal).
RVP is also better at playing behind the leading striker too, and he doesn't rely on his physical attributes nearly as much as Rooney has over his career. He will be a quality player for a fair few years yet, provided he doesn't suffer another horrible run with injuries.
If United had RVP at the time of the first Rooney saga, and all the negative reports re: his behaviour were true, then you can bet Ferguson would have laughed him out of the building. Personally I think he bent United over the barrel, but it was his prerogative to do so, and he did it at a time when your cross town rivals were making big noises in the transfer market and were poised to prove themselves as propped contenders. United couldn't afford to lose their (then) best and most experienced forward. Rooney and his agent knew this.