Wayne Rooney’s Everton return is a bad idea

Wayne Rooney appears to be on the verge of returning to Everton. But would this be a good idea for either the club or player?

You should never go back. Isn’t that what they say? It appears both Wayne Rooney and Everton are about to ignore that advice, according to the BBC.

From the player’s perspective, this move makes a lot of sense. He has never hidden the fact he remains a fan of his boyhood club. At Duncan Ferguson’s testimonial two years ago, Rooney wore a t-shirt bearing the legend “Once a Blue, always a Blue“.

He also has nothing left to achieve with Manchester United. He has won every available trophy at home and abroad at least once with the club. In his time there, Rooney has become their record scorer, and he is top of the goalscoring tree for England, too. Perhaps the Liverpool-born forward is now looking to finish his career in a slightly less pressurized environment?

That may all be true, but this is not a move that appears to make much sense for Everton. On a financial basis it seems an odd move for the Toffees. It appears poor business sense to make a player on the downward slope of his career their highest paid player.

There also has to be a huge question mark over how much top level soccer Rooney has left in his legs. Although he hasn’t yet turned 32, he has been playing Premier League and international soccer half his life.

In total, he has clocked up over 58,000 minutes on the pitch for club and country. That equates to playing over 646 full matches in his career to date. Rooney should feel no shame if his legs have gone after that much soccer.

Not that he has played as much in recent seasons. His pitch time in the league has dropped for the last two years running, and he only made 15 starts in the Premier League last season. Rooney has only scored a total of 11 non-penalty league goals across the last two seasons too, so he’s not in hot scoring form.

Perhaps Everton won’t play him up front, though. Despite being United’s record goalscorer, Rooney made 15 of his 19 starts in league and Europe in the Red Devils’ midfield in 2015-16. Plenty of players have moved backwards through their teams as age caught up with them.

This move would also test the fickle nature of fans. The Goodison Park faithful have not been shy to give Rooney some stick when he has played there with United, yet the reaction on Twitter to the news seems positive. Rooney’s Everton return appears to have galvanized the fans, even if it seems to make little sense from a sporting or business perspective.

Next: Premier League 2016-17 awards: 5 best forwards

Can anybody name an example of where an aging player has gone back to a former club and performed particularly well? It’s hard to think of one. For the money they’ll be paying him, Everton have to hope Rooney will be the exception that proves the rule.