Rooney: It Was The Right Time to Leave United

Former English captain, Wayne Rooney, has said that it is ‘the right time’ for him to leave Manchester United.

News broke on Sunday that Rooney would return to his boyhood club, Everton, after Manchester United agreed to let the 31-year-old striker make the move on a free transfer.

“[My playing] hadn’t gone stale, I enjoyed my time [at Manchester United], of course, but I needed to play more games and I didn’t play that often last season…I know I’m at my best when I’m playing games consistently. I spoke with Jose and it was the right time for me to leave and go play somewhere else and I firmly believe that Everton is the right club for me to do that [sic],” he told reporters at a press conference at Everton on Monday.

Rooney, speaking alongside Everton manager, Ronald Koeman, said that returning to Everton was a no-brainer, and that he is excited to play again.

The former Manchester United captain did not have the best time at Old Trafford last season. He only started in 15 Premier League games, and was benched for a few other tournaments.

“It was obviously frustrating; I’ve played my whole career. It was the first time in my career where I didn’t play and I was on the bench,” he said.

Overall, Rooney has had a stellar career with Manchester United.

He made a total of 559 appearances for the club and scored 253 goals, making him Manchester United’s all-time top scorer. He is also the English national team’s all-time top goal scorer.

Image credit: Wayne Rooney at Everton (2017) [online image] sourced on 11 July at http://kwese.espn.com/football/everton/story/3155645/wayne-rooney-says-i-am-not-coming-to-a-retirement-home-at-everton