Wayne Rooney announces retirement from football, takes over as permanent manager of Derby County

Wayne Rooney has ended his illustrious playing career to take up a job as full-time Derby manager, the Championship club announced on Friday.

Derby confirmed the 35-year-old former Manchester United and England forward had agreed a permanent deal until 2023, having succeeded Phillip Cocu on an interim basis in November.

The club statement confirmed that in accepting the manager’s role, Rooney had “elected to call time on his illustrious playing career to fully focus on his job”.

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Rooney is second in the list of Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorers with 208 goals only behind Alan Shearer.

Having started his career at Everton as a 16-year-old, he caught the eye with his quality and eventually moved to Manchester United in 2004 for a whopping fee of £25.6 million.

At Old Trafford, Rooney achieved legendary status winning 16 trophies with the club that includes five Premier League titles, one Champions League crown and three League Cups.

In 2017, he became the first Manchester United player to score 250 goals for the club before returning to Everton for a brief spell.

He also had a stint in Major League Soccer with DC United before returning to English football with Derby County where he took up a player cum coaching role.

Rooney also had a stellar England career and is the team’s all-time leading goalscorer.

His ability to play across forward positions made him a special asset for his managers at club and country. Despite his great talent, he was always ready to do the dirty work and earned a special place in the hearts of his fans for his work rate and attitude on the pitch.

One of England and Manchester United’s all-time greats, Rooney will be missed on the pitch even as he begins a new innings on the sidelines.

(With AFP inputs)