Report: Wayne Rooney's Move to D.C. United Gets Closer
Wayne Rooney is expected to complete a £12.5m move to Major League Soccer's D.C. United this summer after telling Everton that he wants to leave Goodison Park.
Rooney's representatives, including agent Paul Stretford, traveled to Washington, D.C., for talks with the MLS club and it seems these discussions have gone well. The Daily Mail reports that Rooney has told the Everton hierarchy that he intends to make the switch to America.
This deal was set in motion six weeks ago by D.C. United chief executive and managing general partner Jason Levien, who contacted Stretford to renew the American side's interest in Rooney. DC United had previously showed interest in the former England striker before he returned to his boyhood club last summer.
Rooney will be given a contract until the end of the 2020 MLS season worth £300,000 a week, but the Sun reports that Everton will have to subsidize the move by contributing £50,000 to the pot.
And the financial ramifications don't end there. Rooney still has £15m left on the remaining year of his Everton contract. His former club Manchester United are already believed to be contributing a staggering £10m a year to Rooney's current deal.
If Rooney is still owed outstanding payments, this could mean that the first year of Rooney's contract at D.C. United will be paid for by three different clubs.
Rooney scored 146 goals for Manchester United after leaving Everton in 2004. He returned to Goodison Park last summer and has scored 11 times for the Toffees this year - but all of those goals came in the first half of the season.
Rooney is the record England goalscorer but retired from international duty last August to focus on his club football.
Rooney's link to D.C. United was first reported by The Washington Post.
