Wayne Rooney: I want to operate in Paul Scholes midfield role for Manchester United

The Red Devils captain is open to taking up central position for England as well

Wayne Rooney (Getty)

Wayne Rooney has revealed that he has attempted to learn from watching Paul Scholes in the central midfield role for Manchester United and considers operating there to be the next natural progression in his game.

The 30-year-old Manchester United captain was superb operating in a deep-lying role in the 2-1 win over Everton in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final and he said that it was “a decision for Roy Hodgson” whether he began operating the same way for England

“I've known for a few years [that I can be at home there],” Rooney said. “I have played there a few times throughout my career and I can play that position. I have played and watched Paul Scholes play that role for years and I always knew that one day that is where I would play so I have tried to learn and watch what he did, it is still early days but hopefully if I keep playing there I can develop and get better.”

To deploy Rooney there for England would solve the problem for Hodgson of how to fit him into a national side which has an abundance of strikers, with Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy staking such strong claims. Rooney agreed that the role would be a natural move for him

“Yes,” he said. “I think if I can do that I can free other players up. Obviously it is down to the manager, it is his decision and for the team more importantly it is the right thing to do at this moment in time. We have got a lot of pace in the team now and I think I can read the game quite well and whether to go forward or stay deeper and leave the space for the other lads.”

Manchester United owe their place in the final to David de Gea, for his fine penalty save which prevented Romelu Lukaku putting Everton 2-1 ahead. Yet another fine contribution form the Spaniard led his compatriot Ander Herrera to say that he believed De Gea did not want to leave Old Trafford for Real Madrid this summer.

Lukaku reacts to seeing his penalty saved by De Gea (Getty)

“I think he is very happy in Manchester United,” Herrera said. “You can see that. If you are not happy in one place you cannot play like that, so it’s easy to say that. We can be calm and optimistic, first because he is in a fantastic club and if we start winning trophies, it’s easier to keep world class players.”

Rooney said he saw a self-belief in United’s young emerging stars, like Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. “Playing at Man United, whether you’re 18 or 30, you have to take some sort of responsibility,” he said. “Obviously you can’t take all the burden, it’s difficult to do that as a young lad, but you’re got a responsibility to your team, to your team-mates and the young lads are handling that really well. It’s early days, especially for Rashford, he’s a young lad and hasn’t played many games but the impact he has had has been huge for us in the last couple of months.”