A romantic return for Wayne Rooney to his boyhood club is now increasingly possible as things are panning out. Rooney’s frustrating season snowballing with Lukaku’s contract situation seems to be hinting towards it.
The Manchester United striker was left out of the England squad in the recent national call-up against Germany and Lithuania as the 31-year-old has incurred a knee injury lately.
Rooney’s season is turning out be really frustrating this season as he has managed to make just 18 appearances, where he has scored just twice and made five assists.
He has clearly fallen out of favour with manager Jose Mourinho who has preferred to go with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcus Rashford more often over their highest scorer. To add to it, England boss Gareth Southgate has recently stated that the striker would need to play more for Manchester United if he is seeing himself as a part of his 2018 World Cup squad.
This makes a move out of Old Trafford all the more important for him. And while there are many who wants his signature, Everton are a big possibility in his chase. According to The Independent, the Merseyside club are now the favourites to beat all Premier League suitors for Rooney.
And given Everton’s current dilemma concerning contract situations of their star players Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley, they would definitely take Rooney with open hands.
Romelu Lukaku has refused to sign a new contract with the club despite having one of the best seasons at Goodison Park as attention from European giants has increased. Chelsea are likely to get their hands on him as they are in danger of losing Diego Costa this summer. Barkley, on the other hand, has stalled his contract talks with Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur showing interest in him.
And if Everton manages to hold onto any of them, Rooney can be a brilliant replacement for the other quite easily. There is no doubt about his abilities as a centre-forward, which makes him a good replacement for Lukaku; and his deeper role that we have seen more often this season makes him a good candidate replacing Barkley too.
While injuries have taken a toll on Rooney this season, one can only imagine how good he can be when he is fit. Rooney has 195 goals and 108 assists in 453 Premier League appearances.
He is a beast in front of goal who can provide the most exquisite of finishes. His addition to Everton could really take them to the next level and any big departures from Goodison Park means that they can easily meet Rooney’s £150,000 a week requirement.
