Amongst all destinations that England forward Wayne Rooney is linked with, Everton seems to be the most convenient one for them. Ronald Koeman has opened the club’s gates for the 31-year-old, who started his career at Merseyside and Rooney has a high possibility of getting the one thing he is looking for at the moment, first team action.
Everton’s Premier league campaign has been pretty erratic this season. Koeman’s men won 4 on the trot after starting the campaign with a draw and went winless for the next 4 games. They drew two and lost two before coming back strongly again last weekend against West Ham United with a 2-0 win. The Toffees currently sit sixth in the table of the Premier League table with 18 points in the opening 10 games and above Manchester United.
Rooney had left for Manchester United in 2004 as the 25 million pound offer was too big a deal for Everton to turn down and the forward has since then scored a whopping 248 goals in 537 appearances with 140 assists till date. He has won it all for the club- Premier league, Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup and Club World Cup.
After 12 years, the striker has now passed well over his peak time. Injuries have crept in inhibiting his regular match fitness. He had to move deep into the midfield and even had two good seasons in that position before he was no more an essential contributor for the team. Jose Mourinho does not see him in his plans and he was even dropped to the bench in a couple of Premier League matches and he remained an unused sub since his impact has reduced substantially.
The striker turned midfielder who is comfortable in both attacking midfield and central midfield would have to fight the likes of Ross Barkley, James McCarthy, Idrissa Gueye and Darren Gibson if he moved to Everton. Considering the current squad of United, who have the likes of Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, and Paul Pogba in the squad, it is easier to break into the first team at Everton.
Though Wayne Rooney wants to stay at Manchester United and fight for his place, it doesn’t look to be a wise decision anymore if he has aspirations to play in the 2018 World Cup, as Alan Shearer pointed out. And Everton have been a club producing many England first team regulars, which makes it more of a perfect choice for the forgotten England forward.
It is more like the England forward’s career coming a full circle. Everton have finally found a perfect striker in Romelu Lukaku, who could take the club to the heights and what better option will there be than having their former star assisting the current one. The Toffees have aspirations of breaking into the top five and youth alone won’t get you there. Rooney has been there and done it all at Manchester united, so his expertise could be vital in helping the club move forward under Koeman.
