WAYNE ROONEY is believed to have reached an agreement to sign for DC United in a £12million deal.
The ex-Manchester United and England skipper, 33, is now set to play his final game for Everton at West Ham on Sunday.
Sky Sports claim that Rooney, 32, has agreed in principle to the move which will keep him in the US until 2020.
As revealed by SunSport, Rooney will have his £300,000-a-week contract paid by THREE different clubs.
Former side United are already subsidising his huge salary at Everton by paying £10million a year towards his wages.
And Everton needed to stump up a further £50,000 a week if the ex-England skipper was to make the move to the MLS.
WAYNE ROONEY RECORD (all competitions)
Everton (2002-04) – 77 games, 17 goals
Man Utd (2004-2017) – 559 games, 253 goals
Everton (2016-17) – 40 games, 11 goals
DC United were only able to offer £3m a season – just a fifth of the £15m he was due for another year at Goodison Park.
And the move to the Washington-based side appeals to his family because the flight time back to England is just over eight hours.
Wife Coleen and their four kids are expected to move with him.
Who are DC United?
FOUNDED in 1996 as one of the original ten clubs in the maiden MLS season, DC United are among America’s most successful sides.
They have won four MLS Cups, five Eastern Conference titles and one CONCACAF Champions League.
The majority of their success came under coach Bruce Arena, former USA national boss. The club mascot is a bald eagle called Talon.
The owners have experience of European football — Erick Thohir is a minority owner of Inter Milan while Jason Levien is co-owner of Swansea
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DC United are rooted to the foot of the Eastern Conference and are desperate to add a touch of stardust to their struggling campaign.
But Rooney will have to wait until the MLS transfer window re-opens on July 10 before he can make the move to the States.
Rooney accepts that his romantic return to Everton has not worked out as planned and his days as a regular starter are numbered.
Last month Sam Allardyce suggested his days at the top were numbered as “Wayne struggles against the very best opposition”.
Big Sam has deployed Rooney in a deeper midfield role but questioned whether he still has the legs to complete full matches in the Premier League.
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The duo rowed when Rooney was hooked in April’s Merseyside derby leading to United and England’s record scorer unleashing an X-rated tirade at Allardyce as he took his place on the bench.
Rooney started his second spell back at his boyhood club promisingly with two goals in his first five games.
But the last of his 11 strikes came last year, with his barren run now stretching to 18 matches.
Colorado Rapids boss Anthony Hudson gives his view on Wayne Rooney's switch to the MLS...
SOME people may think the MLS is a place where top European stars come to retire — but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The league is growing very quickly and the number of young players coming through is impressive.
The rest of the world may not see that, but it’s the truth.
I have no doubt Wayne Rooney will be class in MLS but it will definitely be a different experience for him.
There is a lot of travelling — people forget what a massive country the United States is — so you find yourself on a lot of planes. It can be a grind.
Adapting to all the different conditions is also something to contend with.
Yes, it will be a culture shock having spent all his life in England but the experience for him, and his family, will be invaluable.
I lived in Washington DC a few years back and it’s a great place to live.
The MLS standard is decent now. The game is fast, teams work incredibly hard and there’s a lot of energy on show. With the right team, Rooney can be a real success here.
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