Wayne Rooney has become the permanent manager of Derby County this week. Might the former Everton youth team product one day take over at Goodison Park?
This is pure speculation on my part and obviously will depend on how well Rooney does and a host of other factors. But if he sticks to management the former England star could possibly manage Everton in the future if he is successful.
Rooney is the talent that got away from the Toffees. He was a teenage player who was already being spoken of as a huge prospect, one of, if not the best ever seen at the club.
There were stories of how incredibly talented he was, scoring an insane amount of goals at youth level including one astonishing strike from near the halfway line during a game against Tottenham.
When David Moyes took over at Goodison Park in March 2002 Rooney was on the fringes of the senior squad. The Scot became manager as the Blues were in dire straights facing relegation yet again.
He managed to avert that outcome and stabilised things by the end of the season. Then when the 2002-03 season began there was hope for a fresh start under a new manager and with some additional signings having been brought in.
And supporters, including this one, were hoping that Rooney could make an impact and add something different to an Everton side that had struggled for goals for a number of seasons.
After a solid start to the campaign, in October that year the Toffees hosted Arsenal, who were then the best team in the Premiership as the league was called at the time.
The Blues played well against the league leaders and the match was level at 1-1 when right at the end of the second half substitute Rooney picked up the ball and cut inside with a burst of pace that took him away from defenders, before unleashing a brilliant dipping drive from outside the area that David Seaman couldn’t reach.
Rooney’s explosive debut goal proved to be the winner and the youngster from inner-city Liverpool had arrived.
He scored a few more memorable goals that season, but understandably his form and contribution was fitful and he was in and out of the team, often coming on from the bench.
He got his England debut though the following year and became his country’s youngest ever player when he came on against Australia in a friendly.
At the end of the following season Rooney had cemented a place in the Everton team and was the side’s joint-leading scorer with nine league goals.
His talent was there for all to see although he hadn’t quite found the level of consistent excellence of the very top players.
He then went to the European Championships with England that summer. Rooney had an outstanding tournament and scored two superb goals as England beat Croatia to reach the quarter-finals.
That raised his profile further and after the tournament he made it clear he wanted to leave Goodison Park to play for a club competing for honours. Manchester United won the race to secure his signature after paying what was then a huge £25 million fee with add-ons.
It was a massive disappointment for Blues fans who had hoped their club could build a team around him, but it was probably inevitable as Everton were a long way from being competitive then and it was obvious Rooney had the ability to play at the very highest level.
He went on to become a legend at Old Trafford and ended up as both United’s and England’s all-time leading goal-scorer.
After a brief return to the Toffees in 2017 he tried life and football in the US and then joined Derby County last year. Now he has this week become their full-time manager having finally hung up his playing boots.
Rooney is cutting his teeth in the Championship, a tough and demanding league, which will certainly be a steep learning curve for him.
If he’s a success that opens up the possibility, albeit probably a remote one, that the life-long Evertonian might eventually come back to Goodison Park for a third time as manager. Maybe he could even succeed Carlo Ancelotti one day, who knows?!