Wayne Rooney reveals plans to go straight into club management after retirement

Wayne Rooney has outlined his intentions to go into club management as soon as his playing career reaches an end. 

The 33-year-old currently plies his trade in Major League Soccer with D.C. United but has his sights set on life after he hangs up his boots.

Rooney’s retirement plan: Five key things to know…

1. The former England international left the Premier League for D.C. United in 2018.
2. Since relocating to Washington, Rooney has scored 20 goals and registered 10 assists in 37 appearances.
3. Rooney netted his 300th club career goal last month in 2-1 defeat to Houston Dynamo.
4. He wants to follow in the coaching footsteps of former international teammates Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Scott Parker and John Terry.
5. Rooney has stated his plans to cut his teeth in football management once he retires, but at club level rather than in international football.

Ex-England teammates Gerrard, Lampard and Parker have all taken to football management since calling time on their playing careers, and Rooney wants to emulate the steps they’ve taken.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek, the former England skipper said: “As soon as I finish playing I’d like to go into management and see how I do as it’s what I know.

“I wouldn’t want to manage in the England set-up as my first job. I want to be involved day in day out and really work with the players.”

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Rooney on Man Utd rebuild

Turning his attention to matters at his old stomping ground, Old Trafford, Rooney discussed how Manchester United must rebuild to compete with the likes of Man  City and Liverpool.

The former Red Devil believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should be given time to implement his ideas, while building a team around young players, rather than global superstars.

He said: “The club needs to rebuild with younger players but they need to be good enough and I think the fans will understand that they are probably not going to compete for the Premier League next year.

“Let Ole have that time to build a team for the next two or three years that are going to compete at Premier League and Champions League level.

“It’s down to teams like United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham and possibly Everton in the next two years to get to the level of Liverpool and Manchester City.

“The first thing Ole has to do is build the squad and I don’t think bringing in one or two players for £100m is going to help the players already there.

“Ole’s better spending £30-40m on players with potential and building the squad around those five or six players.

“You could bring in players in Ronaldo, Messi, Ramos or Bale but it’s going to cost you £350m and you’d get two years out of them and you’ve written that money off.”