Wayne Rooney returning to Everton with £10m golden handshake from Manchester United
Striker receives huge goodbye pay-off from Red Devils as he prepares to complete move back to Goodison
WAYNE ROONEY will return to his spiritual home after being handed a £10million golden goodbye by Manchester United.
But his £160,000-a-week deal at new club Everton is just over HALF his United wages.
SunSport first reported the move on Wednesday and Roo, 31, was last night on the verge of ending a 13-year United association after undergoing his Toffees medical.
As part of his deal the striker will also get TWO staggered £4m payments from Everton.
Rooney is expected to be granted a two-year contract plus an option of a further 12 months, after which he plans to hang up his boots.
Former England skipper Rooney, who was on £300,000 a week at Old Trafford, could have remained at the Red Devils for a further two years.
But he would have effectively become a £30m bystander.
United had no intention of paying him any more than a third of that figure to start a new career.
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And they waived a transfer fee as their club captain returns to his boyhood team.
United considered it vital that they create a proper exit strategy for their 253-goal all-time record scorer.
Officials within the club wanted him to leave with dignity and believe they achieved that with his severance deal.
Rooney gatecrashed the Everton seniors in style back in 2002, as his debut went down in Everton folklore.
Aged just 16, Roo came off the bench against Arsenal to score a spectacular long-range winner in the last minute.
It ended the champions’ 30-match unbeaten run and thrust the striker into the spotlight.
Rooney rejected several chances to go to China when it became clear United boss Jose Mourinho wanted him out this summer.
But it will be money from China that will help pay for a package worth an initial £24m in total.
Everton are expected to unveil Rooney in the next 48 hours.
Last week, the Toffees signed a £60m three-year partnership with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China — the biggest bank in the world.
That deal will help Goodison owner Farhad Moshiri recoup the money spent on Rooney while he continues to bring in more new talent.
Everton intend to use Rooney’s name to develop brand awareness in China and the Far East.
They could bring in a further £10m per year on further sponsorship deals and the ex-England captain’s name on their shirts.
Everton boss Ronald Koeman has had an excellent and productive transfer window.
He has so far spent close to £100m on Michael Keane, Jordan Pickford, Davy Klaassen, Sandro Ramirez and Henry Onyekuru.
Swansea ace Gylfi Sigurdsson is next — with Koeman undeterred that an initial bid of £27m was rejected by the Welsh club.
The Dutch boss expects to land the Icelandic playmaker for £32m this week.
And he still hopes he can beat Marseille in the battle for Arsenal’s £24m-rated hitman Olivier Giroud.
