Wayne Rooney has already made Man Utd admission as he leaves D.C. United

Stuart Telford

• 8 Oct 2023 03:52 CDT
• 3 min read

Wayne Rooney has left D.C. United after failing to make MLS Cup Playoffs, and has previously admitted he would jump at the chance to manage Manchester United.

Rooney is United's record goalscorer with 253 strikes from his 559 games played between joining from Everton in 2004 and returning to his boyhood club in 2017.

He wound down his career with D.C United and Derby County, and left the latter for the former as a head coach in July 2022, but after a second successive failure to make the Playoffs, club and manager have parted ways.

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The former England striker has been linked with a return to his homeland with Southampton and Birmingham, but has previously admitted that managing either Man Utd or Everton would be his ideal.

Rooney: 'Man Utd and Everton close to me'

"Of course I would," he said in February 2022 when asked by Sky Sports about the possibility of returning to Old Trafford as a manager. "At the minute obviously my focus is on Derby County and staying up, but Manchester United and Everton are the two clubs that are very close to me.

"Hopefully one day in the future I can manage one of those two clubs. It'd be a great achievement for me."

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Erik ten Hag is coming under increasing pressure at Old Trafford with his side currently 10th in the Premier League, but it seems unlikely that he will be replaced by Rooney anytime soon.

Rooney had a 26.4 win percentage in the American capital, marginally worse than the 28.2 per cent he had at Derby - with mitigating circumstances - and another tilt at the Championship seems more realistic at this time.

"My aspiration is to manage at an elite European club someday," Rooney said when managing the MLS All-Stars against Arsenal in July. But that will likely have to wait.