Publishers shelve two Rooney books

WAYNE RooNEY is expected to be the subject of one more blockbuster autobiography at the end of his career rather than the three books left on his contract.

Rooney signed one of the biggest sports publishing deals in 2006 worth £5million for a fivebook deal with HarperCollins. Since then there have been only two Rooney memoirs, My Story So

Far (2006) and My Decade in the Premier League (2012), neither of which sold as well as expected.

England’s disappointing performances at the World Cup in 2014 and European Championship two years later certainly were not the basis for further Rooney books, leaving the current void.

But it is believed the publishers, who no longer have a dedicated sports division, would settle for the Everton striker telling all in one explosive book when he hangs up his boots. HarperCollins were not prepared to talk about the deal as they have no book of Rooney’s on their current schedule.

WORLD CUP hero Alan Ball may be a legend at Everton. But the lack of interest in a Goodison Park charity match to mark the 10th anniversary of his death on Saturday week has seen the game called off with poor advance ticket sales. Organiser Jimmy Ball, Alan’s son, had been upset that Wembley are staging a commercial match organised by sponsors EE on the same day.

PAUL PogBA, Manchester United’s most expensive signing, was the unlikely first footballer to enjoy the corporate hospitality in Manchester City’s Tunnel Club, whose seethrough wall allows fans a close-up view of the players. Pogba (right) was watching a friend play for Chelsea’s Under 23s against City in a test event for the Etihad tunnel experience. And his current injury gives Pogba the chance for a return visit if he so wishes.

FIFA’S

Best awards at the London Palladium next month, which do not have to raise the bar much to be a vast improvement on last year’s first edition in Zurich, have got off to a good start — according to FIFA insiders — by attracting genuine A-list actor Idris Elba, star of Luther and The Wire, to be the main presenter.