Player profile – Wayne Rooney

Remember the name?

Wayne Rooney has divided opinion of Blues across the land since the day he departed for Manchester United.

Traitor, Judas and many more words that aren’t suitable for family consumption have been associated with Rooney’s name.

Wayne has slowly rebuilt his reputation in L4. With an appearance in Duncan Ferguson’s testimonial and constant sightings of his children donning the royal blue.

There is still a clear affinity with the club behind the scenes.

But enough about that. This is not a debate, this is profiling England national team’s skipper.

At 31 it seems Ronald Koeman wants to mix the youth he has already with experience. And who better than Rooney? Every club competition he has played in he’s in possession of a winner’s medal.

A serial trophy collector.

He brings a winning mentality that has severely been missing for far too long at Everton.

It is clear Croxteth born Rooney isn’t the player he once was. He has dropped further and further down the order as his career has progressed.

But having him able to play in numerous positions across the park is big a positive.

The man standing at 5ft9 has 253 goals in 559 United games. Not to mention the 53 balls he put in the back of the net for England in 119 caps. He finds himself his club and his country’s outright top goal scorer of all time.

He is also on an elite list of only four players to reach over a century of Premier League assists.

With a side lacking in creativity it’s clear to see this is key in the bringing back the once local hero.

Some say he’s finished, some say otherwise. Who knows? Maybe Rooney just needs a change of scenery to revitalise a career that appears to be stagnating.

A new lease of life.

Steve Walsh and Koeman don’t want him for the sake of a big named player in the ranks. They want Rooney because they feel that they can get the best out of him.

No special treatment, he has to work hard in training, perform in matches and have the right attitude in order to break into the Dutchman’s already strong starting eleven.

Up the Toffees.