The Manchester United and England captain may be set for a return to his first senior club this summer.
A report from Miguel Delaney of The Independent suggests that Wayne Rooney is likely to leave Manchester United after this season for Everton:
Exclusive: Wayne Rooney expected to leave Manchester United for Everton this summer | @MiguelDelaney https://t.co/NxoStKrzbL
— Indy Football (@IndyFootball) March 21, 2017
Rooney, 31 years old, has been at Old Trafford for 13 seasons since transferring to United from Everton in the summer of 2004. In that time, he’s made 550 appearances for the club, and scored 250 goals, making him the team’s all-time leading goalscorer.
With 195 goals in the Premier League, Rooney is the English top flight’s second-highest scorer, behind just Alan Shearer’s 260.
Struggling with injury, Rooney has appeared 18 times for United this season, scoring only twice. He’s had trouble getting into Jose Mourinho’s squad recently, and was also dropped from Gareth Southgate’s England team for upcoming games against Germany and Lithuania.
A transfer away from United has been rumored for several months now, with rumblings that Rooney had offers to play in China and the U.S.
However, it seems Rooney would prefer to stay in the Premier League, opting to return to the club he started with in Merseyside. Having grown up in Liverpool, Rooney was part of Everton’s youth program since he was 9 years old.
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The report from The Independent also claims that Everton will likely offer Rooney a salary of £150,000 a week, which would be a considerable drop from his current earnings at United, worth an estimated £300,000-a-week.
Delaney also suggests United may be willing to waive any transfer fee and allow Rooney to return to Merseyside on a free.