Wayne Rooney desperate to prove he can still hack it in the Premier League after Everton let him go
WAYNE ROONEY wants to prove he can still hack it in the Premier League after Everton let him go in 2018.
Manchester United and England’s greatest goalscorer is counting down the days until his long-awaited Derby debut against Barnsley at Pride Park on January 2.
The 34-year-old took the MSL by storm during his successful 18-month spell at DC United.
Now he is itching to make a speedy return to the top flight with Phillip Cocu’s Rams and admits the way he departed Goodison still rankles with him.
Rooney — whose 208 Premier goals is only bettered by Alan Shearer’s 260 — was told by Everton he could go despite topping the club’s scoring charts with ten goals from 31 games.
Despite that, club owner Farhad Moshiri apparently could not wait to get Rooney’s £180,000-a-week wages off his sizeable wage bill.
Rooney told The Sun on Sunday: “I still felt I could do it when I was at Everton but other people made their decisions on that.
“Now my ambition is to get Derby back in the Premier League and hopefully play my part there for them.
“Ryan Giggs was able to play into his late thirties in the Premier League and Gareth Barry says he wants to do it at 40.
“It’s important to understand football. It is not all about running round, it is about using your head to play the game.
“Sometimes that gets lost, because you don’t score as many goals or whatever. Given the right team around me, then I could still play in the Premier League.
“The two teams I played for in the Premier League were Manchester United and Everton. I am at Derby now, and hopefully we can get there with them.”
Rooney is also planning for life when he does hang up his boots and will continue taking his FA A-licence course at St George’s Park after Christmas — before moving on to the Uefa Pro-licence he requires to manage in the Premier League one day.
After winning five Premier League titles, one Champions League, one Europa League, one FA Cup and three League Cups during his stellar 13-year career at Old Trafford, Rooney is not going to set his sights any lower when he talks about his ultimate ambition as a coach.
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And he does not rule out managing Manchester United or England one day.
The striker, who holds England’s all-time scoring record with 53 goals from 120 appearances said: “At the minute, I am a Derby County player. When my time at Derby is over, managing is something I will have to sit down and look at.
“I’ve played for Manchester United and England. Of course, any ambitious manager, be it an older manager or a younger manager, wants to manage at the top level and it would certainly be my ambition to do that.”