Goodison Park not a retirement home, says Rooney

LIVERPOOL. — Wayne Rooney does not consider Goodison Park a “retirement home” after completing his move back to Everton.

The England forward rejoined Everton on a two-year contract on Sunday following 13 trophy-laden years at Manchester United and trained with his new team-mates yesterday.

Rooney will turn 32 in October, but says he has no intention of slowing down and has returned to Everton to win silverware.

“I’m excited, it’s a challenge which is the right time in my career. This isn’t a retirement home,” Rooney said.

“Obviously Ronald (Koeman) has ideas and the players we’re bringing in, it’s on us. It’s one thing saying we want to win trophies but it’s on us to do it.”

Rooney added: “Once I knew Ronald was interested in bringing me back to Everton it was a no-brainer, it’s where I wanted to play.

“It’s an exciting time, we’re moving forward, we’re signing the right players, we hope it can be a very good year for us.

“For us all, you want to do better than the previous year. We want to keep pushing and try to bring trophies to the club.”

Rooney was deployed in a number of different roles during his later years with United and England, even being utilised as a defensive midfielder during Louis van Gaal’s spell at Old Trafford. But when quizzed about where he expects to play under Koeman, Rooney said: “You’ll have to wait and see.

“The big thing was coming back here to play, he’ll assess training and we’ll make our decisions on that.”

On the same issue, Koeman acknowledged Rooney’s adaptability but signalled his intention to use the 31-year-old in an attacking capacity.

“Everyone knows the qualities of Wayne. We’re trying to get more productivity,” the Dutchman said. “He can be 10 behind the striker, the 9, the 7.

“When we spoke it was about ambition, he was desperate to come back. He showed me he likes pressure, he’s used to doing that. Some players need it to get the best out of themselves.

“You mention his age, 31, 32 in October, still young for football. The qualities and ambition showed me enough to come back to Everton.” — SkySports.