Wayne’s England squad place in doubt

GARETH SOUTHGATE is expected to revisit the issue of the England captaincy next month amid growing uncertainty over Wayne Rooney’s future at Manchester United. Indeed, the England manager will have to decide whether to select his 31-year-old skipper in the squad for the friendly in Germany on March 22 and the World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley four days later. Rooney has been limited to just eight Premier League starts under Jose Mourinho this season and is now sidelined by injury, with the United manager sparking a fresh wave of speculation by suggesting on Tuesday that the forward may have played his last game for the club. Sources close to Rooney hinted yesterday that any move away from Old Trafford would not come until the summer, but that does not resolve a pressing issue for Southgate. As interim manager last October, Southgate described Rooney’s value to the squad as ‘gold dust’, although he did so at a press conference in Ljubljana when he also confirmed he planned to drop England’s record goalscorer for a competitive game for the first time in 13 years of international football. Since then, Rooney has become embroiled in a late-night drinking session that forced Southgate and the FA to review the policy on giving England players a night off during international get-togethers. But Southgate appeared to be more relaxed about the issue than his employers. For Southgate, Rooney’s lack of first-team action at United is the greater concern, and it could be he now has to consider the likes of Jordan Henderson, Joe Hart or Harry Kane for the role of skipper, with Henderson the favourite.