Boyhood Blue Leaves Goodison Park for Second Time to Head Stateside
Wayne Rooney’s transfer to DC United is all-but-complete after the Everton forward was snapped on a plane to the United States.
The veteran attacker took to his personal Twitter account to post an image of himself on a jet as he bid farewell to Goodison Park for the second time in his career.
The Liverpool Echo also weighed in with its own report on the story, and stated its belief that Rooney will pen a two-and-a-half year deal upon his arrival, which should occur in the next 48 hours.
https://twitter.com/WayneRooney/status/1012271449657303042
Rooney had wanted to remain part of the set-up in L4, but Marco Silva deemed him surplus to requirements.
That meant that the 32-year-old would not feature often under the new Blues boss for the final year of his contract.
Rumours of Rooney’s departure first emerged in May as DC United looked to bring him stateside at the end of the Premier League season.
The Manchester United legend embarked on a scouting mission to Washington a few weeks ago to get the lowdown on what sort of package he would be offered to move to the MLS.
And, with Silva and director of football Marcel Brands not wanting to keep him around, Rooney has elected to move to America for a fresh start.
Rooney scored 12 goals in all competitions to finish as Everton’s leading goalscorer last season.
However, he failed to bag a single strike after the 1-0 victory away at Newcastle United in December and fell down the pecking order as the season reached its climax.
Rooney’s departure will free up around £150,000-a-week in wages for Silva and Brands to play with this summer.
The pair want to bolster Everton’s senior ranks, but must sell first as they look to reduce a bloated 38-man first-team squad.
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Rooney will join Ramiro Funes Mori, who joined Villarreal earlier in June, in being the second senior star to leave Goodison since Silva’s appointment.