Wayne Rooney open to Manchester United manager job

Wayne Rooney arrived at Manchester United as a teenager carrying expectation, and left 13 years later having carved his name into the foundations of Old Trafford.

There were 253 goals, five Premier League titles and a Champions League triumph, but Rooney was more than numbers.

He played with aggression, courage and an edge United could desperately use today.

Michael Carrick’s side have looked short of that competitive fire during a miserable opening to the season.

United have collected five points from five Premier League matches, their joint-worst start in the competition.

They lost at home to Manchester City despite their rivals playing most of the derby with ten men, then surrendered a two-goal advantage in a 3-2 Carabao Cup defeat to Brighton.

A passive 1-1 draw at Fulham followed, leaving Carrick under growing pressure only months after his remarkable interim spell earned him the permanent job.

Rooney knows the pressures of management himself.

After retiring as United’s record goalscorer, he began his coaching career with Derby County before spells at DC United, Birmingham City and Plymouth Argyle. None delivered the sustained success of his playing days.

Indeed, Rooney previously suggested he could be finished with management altogether.

There is, however, one enormous exception.

Wayne Rooney opens door to Manchester United return

Speaking on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio, Rooney revealed Manchester United are one of only two clubs capable of tempting him back into management.

The 40-year-old explained that a return to the dugout was unlikely, but said United or boyhood club Everton could change his mind.

Asked which of the two jobs he would prefer, Rooney joked: “The one that comes first!”

Rooney has instead found fresh purpose through punditry, including work on Match of the Day, and acknowledged there is a possibility he never manages again.

For now, Carrick remains in the Old Trafford dugout.

Rooney, though, has made it clear that if Manchester ever called, he would listen.