Everton are closing in on a deal to re-sign Wayne Rooney from Manchester United. The 31-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to China but Everton have accelerated efforts to bring the England striker back to Goodison Park, 13 years after his £25.6 million switch to United, even though a deal is not yet over the line.
United’s players are due to report for pre-season on Saturday and it remains to be seen if Rooney flies with the rest of the squad to Los Angeles 24 hours later for the start of the club’s tour of the United States.
Farhad Moshiri, Everton’s majority shareholder, recognises the commercial value in signing Rooney and various options have been discussed in terms of financing the player’s basic £240,000 a week salary, which has previously been a stumbling block.
United could let Rooney – who has 12 months left on his existing deal with the option of another year – leave for free while there have been suggestions of a season-long loan with the two clubs splitting the cost of the wages.
Everton have already signalled their ambition by spending almost £100 million on five new signings this summer and also want £40 million-rated Gylfi Sigurdsson from Swansea but manager Ronald Koeman would face a challenge revitalising Rooney’s flagging career. Rooney was seen at a spin class in Liverpool on Wednesday as he seeks to build up his fitness ahead of pre-season.
Jose Mourinho is desperate to bolster his attack with United in talks with Real Madrid over Spain striker Alvaro Morata as a replacement for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has left the club after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury in April.
There has also been dialogue with Everton over a deal involving Rooney and Romelu Lukaku but the Belgium striker has so far shown a preference to move to Chelsea, even though the Premier League champions have yet to make a formal offer.
If Rooney were to leave United before they managed to get another striker in, it would leave Mourinho with Marcus Rashford as his only recognised centre-forward. Anthony Martial can also operate in the position but was mainly used out wide by Mourinho last season.
