MARCO SILVA wants Wayne Rooney to stay and help him make Everton fans proud again.
The new Goodison boss will cull a host of unwanted players this summer.
But the Portuguese chief made it clear that Rooney’s name is not one of those in his out tray.
The England strike legend, 32, has agreed in principle to a move to American outfit DC United, a year after his return to boyhood club Everton.
Rooney has had a medical in Washington and been house hunting.
But, as revealed by SunSport, Roo held back on signing until he discovered who would replace Sam Allardyce as Toffees boss.
Rooney did not want to be a bit-part operator.
So Silva’s words yesterday at his formal unveiling will have been music to the player’s ears.
ZZ STROP EXCLUSIVE: Zidane resigned as Real boss after clashing with Perez over De Gea and Hazard
The new manager said: “Rooney is a club legend and we need to understand everything.
“The door is open every time for him.
“The only thing important is for our fans to be proud of the team and we have to build a strong connection between us and them.”
While new director of football Marcel Brands, who has arrived from a similar role at PSV Eindhoven, added: “We will talk with him.
“If this is a move he wants, then I hope he will return when he is finished there as he is still a legend in this club.
“At PSV Eindhoven I always hoped to use the legends in the club.”
Others at Goodison will go for certain, however.
Skipper Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines, Dutch flop Davy Klaassen, Senegal striker Oumar Niasse and midfielder Mo Besic are all likely to be bombed out.
Silva is ready to bid £30million for Newcastle centre-half Jamaal Lascelles and also has Middlesbrough defender Ben Gibson and Sporting Lisbon’s defensive midfielder William Carvalho on his hit list.
Silva is already on his third Premier League club inside 18 months.
He quit Hull after leading the Tigers to relegation in May 2017 and was axed by Watford in January after agitating for the Everton job.
Before coming to England, the 40-year-old lasted 12 months at Sporting Lisbon and 11 months with Greek outfit Olympiakos.
But he insisted: “I joined here not for one, two or three years but for something more. It’s a big challenge.
“The club have shown how big the project is.”
Leave a comment