Rooney’s open offer of a Goodison return
WAYNE ROONEY, who is still deciding whether to accept an offer from DC United to end his career in Major League Soccer, has an open-ended invitation to return to Everton afterwards.
It is understood Rooney has already been told he would be welcome back as a coach at Goodison Park any time in the future. Rooney revealed that was his long-term aim in an interview with Jamie Carragher last February.
Having a guarantee of being able to start his coaching career at his hometown club might be one good reason why the 32-year-old goes to the USA for two or three seasons.
Certainly, there are influential figures at Everton who believe Rooney would benefit on and off the field from a spell in the US before moving into coaching, especially living with his family in the US capital. However, chairman Bill Kenwright is known to want Rooney to play on at Goodson.
DISGRACED former UEFA president Michel Platini was banned from football for four years in 2016. And he hasn’t helped any future return to the sport with his extraordinary revelation that as chief of France’s 1998 World Cup organising committee, he and crooked former FIFA president Joao Havelange fixed the draw so that Brazil and France could not meet until the final. ITV racing presenter Francesca Cumani (right) admitted yesterday she wasn’t a betting expert, adding the ‘best betting model in the world is Hong Kong where all money comes back into racing’ (via a Tote- style system). Cumani’s comments will not have impressed bookmakers William Hill, who sponsor ITV racing, or the other bookies who advertise on the network.
THE ECB’s commercial operation has become such a mess since they threw away blue-chip backing from Waitrose and Investec that they are said to be nearly £4million down on sponsorship this year. It is understood NatWest have paid next to nothing for picking up Test sponsorship for the Pakistan series less than a week before the start. The ECB say their revenue is judged on a four-year cycle and while not disputing the £4m hole, they claim NatWest have paid extra for the Tests.