Wayne Rooney is unlikely to make a romantic return to Everton and could see out the rest of his contract with Manchester United, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claim that England and United’s record scorer could stay until 2019 at Old Trafford, as his contract has one year left to run with the option of adding a further season to it.
The Mail report that the United captain is likely to stay at the club with a move to Everton looking unlikely, as the bosses at Goodison Park are unable to offer a salary close to his current £250,000-a-week wage.
This will be regarded as a blow to the Merseysiders, with manager Ronald Koeman and director of football Steve Walsh both going public with their desire to see Rooney make a return to his boyhood club next season.
With Everton unable to pay the England international a £13 million-a-year salary, it looks increasingly likely that boss Jose Mourinho will leave the door open for the forward.
The report claims that the United manager sees the appeal in having the experience of Rooney in the dressing room, as the striker has completed 13 seasons with the club.
Rooney seemed to somewhat slow down during the previous season with a late contribution to the club’s 2016/17 campaign after he scored against Burnley, Swansea, and Tottenham, which brought his Premier League goal total to five throughout his 25 appearances.
It is said that while Rooney won’t confirm the decision about a career move until after his family holiday, staying at Old Trafford currently looks like the best option to the skipper.
If Rooney chooses to stay this summer then he could be seeing some new faces in the squad as United still have their eye on Real Madrid striker, Alvaro Morata, who Mourinho hopes to sign as a replacement for injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic.