Wayne Rooney will meet Ronald Koeman this week as he prepares to leave Manchester United for Everton

It is understood that United are willing to waive a transfer fee, while Everton are capable of offering Rooney a deal of £150,000 a week

Ben Burrows
Wednesday 05 July 2017 09:13 BST
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Wayne Rooney is set to call time on his Manchester United career
Wayne Rooney is set to call time on his Manchester United career

Wayne Rooney is set to meet Ronald Koeman this week as he prepares to leave Manchester United and return to boyhood club Everton.

As exclusively first revealed by The Independent in March, despite firm interest from elsewhere, Rooney’s first choice has always been to return to the Toffees whom he left for Old Trafford in 2004 as an 18-year-old.

It is understood that United are willing to waive a transfer fee, while Everton are capable of offering Rooney a deal of £150,000 a week with the player set to meet manager Koeman this week.

The England captain fell out of favour under Jose Mourinho at United this season before losing his place in Gareth Southgate’s international squad as well prompting him to assess his options this summer.

United would have been willing to let Rooney go to the Chinese Super League at the end of February but, as reported by The Independent at the time, the 31-year-old still felt he had more to offer at Premier League level and was also determined to ensure he was in the England team for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

That would have been almost impossible, had he made the move to China, and it is also understood Rooney’s representatives were put off by the standard of football there.

The Independent has since learned that a prospective offer from Everton was also greatly playing on the player’s mind, and that the Merseyside club have been investigating a move “for a few months”.

Everton’s offer marks a considerable paycut given Rooney currently earns around double, but it is believed he is willing to accept the offer such is the pull of his former club.

Rooney will join Michael Keane, Jordan Pickford, Davy Klaassen, Sandro Ramirez and Henry Onyekuru as part of an extensive summer recruitment drive on the blue half of Merseyside.

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