COMING TO AMERICA
despite Big Sam saying he was fit two hours earlier!
Wayne Rooney’s career in England looks over. He misses Everton’s trip to West Ham with injury. Sportsmail revealed Rooney’s USA move this week
WAYNE Rooney’s career in England may be over after he was ruled out of Everton’s final game of the season with a knee injury.
The 32-year-old, who is the subject of serious interest from MLS side DC United, arrived at Everton’s Finch Farm training centre yesterday morning but, after the club’s medical staff assessed him, he left the complex just after 12 noon, long before the rest of the squad.
Everton took the decision that it was not prudent to take a gamble with the issue that had forced Rooney to miss last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Southampton, but their bulletin was directly at odds with manager Sam Allardyce who, just after 10am, said he was ‘fit and in training’.
Rooney, along with the rest of the squad, has barely been at Finch Farm this week. Allardyce gave his players Monday and Tuesday off — as well as Thursday — and during that time Rooney received the proposal of moving to America which was exclusively revealed by
Sportsmail earlier this week. Allardyce intended to hold talks with Rooney to learn if he wanted to accept the lucrative offer he had received from DC United. But the 63-year- old made it clear in his weekly press conference that he would not provide England’s record goalscorer any guarantees about game time next season.
‘I am always comfortable if any player wants to leave or if any player doesn’t want to leave,’ said Allardyce.
‘But let’s put this right, Wayne Rooney has not asked to leave and neither has Wayne had any consultation with me or been in any difficult situation in the time since I’ve been here. We are two adults and we talk. How as a manager can you guarantee anyone to play?
‘If they don’t play well, you can’t select them. If they do play well they stay in the team and that’s the simple fact of the matter.’
Rooney has had a difficult second half of the season, but of all the issues that Everton needed to address this summer, he was not one of them. He remains the club’s leading scorer for the campaign, the second highest assist-maker and, not only that, has a worldwide reputation.
For some reason, though, there appears to be an element within the club that wants him to move on less than 12 months after returning from Manchester United. It does not make financial sense, either, as DC United have not offered Everton a transfer fee for Rooney.
Rooney has 12 months left on his contract with the option of another 12 months. If the move to DC United fell through, would Allardyce recommend it be triggered?
‘I can’t answer that at present,’ Allardyce said. ‘ It’s speculation. Until I sit down and discuss everything about the club next week then that’s speculative and I can’t discuss that. Wayne is his own man and whatever he has decided it’s not decided by me — it’s decided by Everton Football Club.’
This situation, however, is indicative of the drift that has happened under the ownership of major shareholder Farhad Moshiri.
He has yet to state whether Allardyce will see out the final 12 months of his contract or if he will change, with Portuguese pair Marco Silva and Paulo Fonseca linked.
Moshiri has much to address. Aside from Allardyce’s future, he has not managed to get a deal done to bring Marcel Brands in from PSV Eindhoven as the club’s new sporting director, nor has a decision been made on whether to persist with Steve Walsh, the current director of football.
Allardyce recognises the need for some structure to be put in place and he expects to learn something about Moshiri’s intentions when he meets him next week.
The pair met a fortnight ago in London, a meeting which left the manager confident enough to draw up plans for the new season.
‘I would have thought (there would be a meeting),’ said Allardyce.
‘We are not certain on a date yet, but there will be some meeting somewhere along the line next week.
‘Where? Well, it depends what part of the world he’s in. He’s a busy man. He runs companies worth billions and billions of pounds.
‘Sometimes his schedule is far greater than mine, so I’ll drop into his schedule, whenever I possibly can and meet him where I can, if that’s what he wishes.
‘He’s got things to sort out, yes. We all have things to sort out. There is speculation, but we are where we are. What Farhad is thinking, I’ll find out when I see him.
‘I can’t speculate or predict what Farhad is or isn’t thinking. I’ve done all I can do, that’s what I’ll say to him. I can’t do any more.’