Wayne Rooney’s £300,000-a-week DC United deal to be paid by THREE different clubs
Manchester United are already subsidising his sky-high salary at Everton by paying £10m a year towards his wages
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WAYNE ROONEY’S bumper £300,000-a-week deal at DC United will be paid by THREE different clubs.
Rooney’s former side Manchester United are already subsidising his sky-high salary at Everton by paying £10million a year towards his wages.
The ex-England captain’s impending move to the MLS will only go ahead if the Toffees are prepared to prop it up by putting another £50,000 a week into the pot.
He has a contract on offer from DC United worth £3m-a-season but that is nowhere near the £15m outstanding on the remaining year of his deal at Goodison Park.
United and Everton must come to an agreement to cough up the difference before Rooney can agree terms on the next move of his career.
The striker has accepted his time in England is over and he is ready to make the move to America.
Rooney, 32, could be allowed to leave after the final game of the season at West Ham on Sunday.
His romantic return to Merseyside has not worked out and he has accepted that his days as a top-class Premier League footballer are over.
Rooney started his second spell back at his boyhood club promisingly with two goals in his first five games.
Who are DC United?
FOUNDED in 1996 as one of the original ten clubs in the maiden MLS season, DC United are among America’s most successful sides.
They have won four MLS Cups, five Eastern Conference titles and one CONCACAF Champions League.
The majority of their success came under coach Bruce Arena, former USA national boss. The club mascot is a bald eagle called Talon.
The owners have experience of European football — Erick Thohir is a minority owner of Inter Milan while Jason Levien is co-owner of Swansea
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'It will be a shock'
Anthony Hudson, Colorado Rapids boss, gives his view on Wayne Rooney's proposed switch to the MLS.
SOME people may think the MLS is a place where top European stars come to retire — but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The league is growing very quickly and the number of young players coming through is impressive.
The rest of the world may not see that, but it’s the truth.
I have no doubt Wayne Rooney will be class in MLS but it will definitely be a different experience for him.
There is a lot of travelling — people forget what a massive country the United States is — so you find yourself on a lot of planes. It can be a grind.
Adapting to all the different conditions is also something to contend with.
Yes, it will be a culture shock having spent all his life in England but the experience for him, and his family, will be invaluable.
I lived in Washington DC a few years back and it’s a great place to live.
The MLS standard is decent now. The game is fast, teams work incredibly hard and there’s a lot of energy on show. With the right team, Rooney can be a real success here.
But the last of his 11 strikes came last year, with his barren run now stretching to 18 matches.
And the Liverpool-born star had a row with boss Sam Allardyce when he was hooked in April’s derby.
The move to Washington side DC United appeals to the Rooney family because the flight time back to England is just over eight hours.
ROO.S.A. Everton striker Wayne Rooney in serious talks with MLS outfit DC United
Wife Coleen and their four kids are expected to move with him.
DC United are rooted to the foot of the Eastern Conference and are desperate to add a touch of stardust to their struggling campaign.
But Rooney will have to wait until MLS transfer window re-opens on July 1 before he can make the move to the States.