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Wayne Rooney decides Man Utd future

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Jose Mourinho giving Wayne Rooney some instructions before sending him on as a second half substitute
Photo: Getty Images

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney says he has “more or less” decided his future at the club.

The 31-year-old has played a bit-part role for United this season, coming on as a last-minute substitute in the Europa League final triumph over Ajax.

“There’s lots of offers on the table, both in England and abroad,” he said.

But United’s all-time leading scorer with 253 goals said he would only move to former club Everton if he stayed in the Premier League.

It is understood Rooney does not want the issue to drag on until the final day of the transfer window on 31 August, and he will go away with his family to discuss and decide on his next course of action.

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Rooney has ruled out playing for any other Premier League side apart from Everton, while Toffees manager Ronald Koeman and director of football Steve Walsh have both said publicly this season they would be interested in the player should he become available.

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Rooney joined the Old Trafford club for £27m in 2004 and has gone on to play more than 550 games, breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s 44-year goalscoring record this season.

But he has only started 15 league games this term and failed to play in the EFL Cup final victory over Southampton at Wembley.

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He is also England’s all-time leading scorer with 53 goals, but has been left out of Gareth Southgate’s latest squad for the World Cup qualifier against Scotland on 10 June and the friendly against France three days later.

“Of course you want to play,” said Rooney. “You want to be on the pitch. I think a younger me would have been a lot more frustrated. I think I understand what’s right and what’s needed for the club, and I respect that.

“Obviously I am happy to be part of that [Europa League win] and in some way help the club win trophies, and that is the way it’s been over the last 18 months and last year.

“That is a decision I have to make now, whether I want to continue doing that or go on and play more regular football.”

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BBC Sport’s Simon Stone looks at the player’s options:
End of an era?

As with John Terry at Chelsea, Rooney appears to have slowly been eased out of the first-team, without there being one single pressure point that signalled a change in Mourinho’s thinking.

It felt like a poignant moment when Rooney waved to both ends of Old Trafford as he was given a standing ovation after being substituted two minutes from the end of Manchester United’s final game of the Premier League season on Saturday.

Then, on an emotional night in Stockholm, he came on as a 90th-minute substitute to rapturous applause and was front and centre in the celebrations that followed United’s Europa League final victory over Ajax. Was this really a final goodbye for the club’s record goalscorer?

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