Wayne Rooney’s time is up, but he has had a great career

The man who has been our captain for the past three seasons and who I would consider a club legend is reportedly leaving Old Trafford to return to his boyhood favorite Everton. Wayne Rooney joined Manchester United in 2004 from the club he is expected to return to. At this time, reports are saying that a deal is "all but done" as the Red Devils have been looking for a buyer for the 31-year-old.

Rooney, who will be 32 in October, has had a fantastic career with the club. He’s a five-time Premier League champion, five-time FA Community Shield winner, four-time English League Cup winner, Champions League winner, FA Cup winner, FIFA Club World Cup winner, U21 Premier League champion, and most recently he completed his impressive trophy case by winning the Europa League. Not only was Rooney there when Manchester United became the first English team to win every major trophy domestically and internationally, but he also won at least one of each of those trophies while he was there.

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He was United’s top scorer in the 08/09 campaign and led scoring at the FIFA Club World Cup that same year. He was named young player of the year in 2005 and again in 2006 and won Premier League Player Of The Season after the 09/10 campaign. So he’s done a lot for the club.

However, despite all of these great accomplishments, Rooney had a poor season this year. He was slower, didn’t have his touch, and couldn’t find passes as easily. He often seemed to be slowing down attacks when he was actually on the field, but he can still be an impactful player in the attacking third as he is only second behind Anthony Martial by one goal if you look at how many goals United players were involved in since 2015/16 season. At this point, it seems like there’s definitely an interest, but the pursuit of Rooney will amp up after Lukaku leaves for Chelsea. It’ll be interesting to see how Rooney can blend with the club made up of a lot of young players.