Wayne Rooney hired by MLS team as new manager

Wayne Rooney, who played 14 months with the club between 2018 and 2019, resigned last month as interim player-manager of the English Football League’s League One club Derby County after the team failed to avoid relegation.

Rooney, who holds the goal-scoring records for both Manchester United and the England national team, will be the permanent replacement for Hernan Losada, who was fired in April. DC United is currently in 13th place out of 14 teams in the MLS Eastern Conference, with a 5-2-10 record and 17 points in 17 games.

In 48 matches with DC United, Rooney scored 23 goals and had 15 assists. In two MLS Cup Playoff games, the 36-year-old had one assist.

Steven Goff of The Washington Post captured video of Rooney arriving in the Washington, D.C.-area at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Rooney was carrying luggage that was taken by a couple of team staffers. According to Goff, Rooney said that he’s looking forward to the “challenge” of turning things around.

While Rooney’s time as a player with DC United did not end in a championship, he did make a few spectacular plays (see one of them here). Perhaps he will be able to guide the club to its first MLS Cup win since 2004 from the sidelines.