Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney not willing to take pay cut for Everton return
Posted Thursday, June 08, 2017 by Express.co.uk
Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney looks set to leave Old Trafford
WAYNE ROONEY'S current wage demands are pricing him out of the possibility of remaining in the Premier League and making an emotional return to his boyhood club Everton.
Manchester United's record goalscorer has come to terms with the fact that he may no longer have a future at Old Trafford after failing to establish himself in Jose Mourinho's line-up last season.
But he has two years remaining on a lucrative United contract worth at least £250,000-a-week and, with an open offer from the even wealthier Chinese league on the table, Rooney has so far indicated he is not prepared to take a drop in salary to remain in England.
Rooney has hinted that, aside from United, Everton are the only other English team he would be keen to play for but, despite a genuine interest from Ronald Koeman, the Goodison club would not be prepared to shatter their wage structure to accommodate the 31-year-old.
The Toffees recently offered midfielder Ross Barkley a £100,00-a-week deal – one the England man has yet to accept – but that is the upper limit of the Goodison pay scale.
And while management at Everton can see the value in staging a PR coup like signing Rooney, they are not prepared to meet anything like those pay demands.
Knowing the landscape, Everton have not even contacted United yet to start the formalities of inquiring about Rooney's availability and that could leave the striker in limbo if he is not prepared to alter his demands.
Rooney's position has been strengthened – or, perhaps, complicated – by the vast wealth on offer in China where Carlos Tevez signed a deal with Shanghai Shenhua that is reportedly worth over £600,000-a-week.
And while it is understood that Rooney would prefer not to uproot his family to Asia, he may be pricing himself out of other options.
On Sunday, after Michael Carrick's testimonial, Rooney lingered on the Old Trafford pitch and appeared to be saying a personal goodbye to the ground and the club.
But unless he is prepared to shift his current sights, pre-season will start at the beginning of next month with Rooney still a United player.
Meanwhile, reports in Spain claim that Real Madrid have abandoned their summer pursuit of Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea.
After landing the League and Champions League double, Real manager Zinedine Zidane is said to have decided to keep faith with Keylor Navas.
Zidane is, in any case, said to favour a move next summer for AC Milan's Gianluigi Donnarumma as a long-term answer to his goalkeeping position.
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