Season › 2018-19 › News
Rooney: I still don't know why Everton wanted me to leave
Wayne Rooney says he still doesn't know why Everton were so keen to let him go this summer as he prepares for life at DC United.
Speaking with ex-USA international and current pundit Taylor Twellman for ESPN, he spoke of his decision to move to Major League Soccer.
“I wanted to win and to play. Obviously at Manchester United, that [wasn't] happening as much as I would have liked. I could quite easily have stayed [as] I had two years left on my contract and picked up the wages and been happy with that.
“But I wanted to play. I went back to Everton and had a year there. As I've said before, to be honest, Everton made it clear towards the end of the season that they'd be happy for me to leave, for whatever reason. I still don't know.
“I felt I'd done okay. I was top goalscorer playing most of the season from midfield.
“But that's football. It gave me a decision to make and I made this decision.
“I said to Everton, ‘I'm not a kid. If this is what you want, tell me; if you want me to stay, tell me,' and we'll talk about it.
“But as an 18-, 20-, 21-year-old, I wouldn't have been able to handle it the way I can now and they let me know, and I said ‘fair enough'. I'm not going to disrespect the football club.”
Reader Comments (63)
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer
2 Posted 12/07/2018 at 21:26:36
3 Posted 12/07/2018 at 21:40:31
Everton need Champions League football sooner rather than later otherwise this Moshiri's chapter will be another false dawn when nothing changes.
4 Posted 12/07/2018 at 21:48:53
5 Posted 12/07/2018 at 21:52:27
But I will go bleating to the media about it because I cant accept I'm past it and picking up wages under false pretenses.
6 Posted 12/07/2018 at 21:58:44
7 Posted 12/07/2018 at 21:58:45
8 Posted 12/07/2018 at 21:58:45
9 Posted 12/07/2018 at 22:09:55
Apart from Tosun (and it's nothing to take as granted, remember Jelavic) but who else looks capable of scoring 10 league goals?
Last season Rooney, past it as he is, was the only one who got 10 league goals which doesn't bode well for the team next season does it?
10 Posted 12/07/2018 at 22:15:58
Walcott has goals in him. Lookman and Vlasic too. Sigurdsson also. I'd say all 4 of these could get 8-10 goals (Walcott more). Plus Tosun, and Niasse is good for 7-10 goals from the bench if he isn't sold.
Not saying we don't need to sign anyone, but until the dead wood is sold, our hope is that the young players can step it up.
11 Posted 12/07/2018 at 22:29:50
12 Posted 12/07/2018 at 22:36:19
I actually think Moshiri could make Kenwright look like a footballing genius.
Take West Ham, they appointed a manager with a track record of competing and winning that plays attacking football, they have signed Jack Wilshere, unarguably the most talented English midfielder around that's 26, has a point to prove, cost nothing and played 32 games last season and 29 the season before, Issa Diop a highly rated French defender, Fredericks a really decent hungry defender from Fulham that has looked the business when I've seen him play, Yarmolenko an absolute quality playmaker we are crying out for and have tried to sign in season past and now Felipe Anderson the highly rated Brazilian winger from Lazio. They are even rumoured to be bringing back Payet!!
We've brought in a manager that has an awful record in the premier league, worse than Martinez, we have signed no one, sold our top goal scorer, not replaced players in positions we desperately need to, striker, centre back and left back and are desperately fending off bids for a young player that fans are placing huge hopes on despite him producing nothing for us (Lookman)
Frankly it's pathetic management of the club and things look worse for this coming season than last season did after we sacked Koeman. It will be another relegation fight and by Xmas we will have appointed Moyes to get us out of trouble as we've already used Allardyce.
And for all you blinkered Blues, you can call me a pessimist but all of the above is fact, show me a shred of evidence that anything is going to be any different ?!?!
Shame on Kenwright and shame on Moshiri, Silva, what a fucking joke !!
14 Posted 13/07/2018 at 00:46:27
Day after day we hear of 'second chances' to be given to players who stank the place out whilst our top scorer is ushered off the premises.
It's as though Everton go out of their way to make irrational decisions. Or is money short again ?
15 Posted 13/07/2018 at 01:05:29
Yarmalenko: Dortmund are selling at a loss after 1 year. Hardly a glowing reference, is 29, lacks pace and is on big wages.
Wilshire, 3 year contract, big wages. I think he'd be worth a risk on a 2 year contract, but the fact is he wanted to be a guarenteed starter, that's why Arsenal got rid, and we shouldn't guarantee that when we already have Sigurdsson who despite not being worth 45 million, is still a top class player worth 25 million at least.
Diop I have never heard of.
Felipe Anderson is ok, good but not great. 30 million.
West Ham have a manager who is not going to be there in 3 years time, short term vision, and wants to spend money (a la allardyce, koeman).
We have a young, highly rated manager who is aiming to build the club from its roots. We have young players like vlasic, lookman, dowell, williams, davies, baningime that could all become 20+ million pound players.
The club is getting rid of big wages that will not build the club in the long run, and i'm all for that.
Let's build this club from the roots snd have success for years to come.
16 Posted 13/07/2018 at 02:02:33
I did,nt want him back and am glad he has now left.As for the so-called top players West Ham have recently signed,did,nt we say much the same about all our signings from last season!!?Nor would I ever class Wilshire as the most talented English midfielder in the PL right now
17 Posted 13/07/2018 at 02:22:17
On the note of who's going to get us 10 goals next season I believe young DCL is being overlooked. He has got enormous potential and once he'll get among goals ( to stop feeding on scraps would be a good start) he might turn out to be just the man
19 Posted 13/07/2018 at 02:47:44
20 Posted 13/07/2018 at 03:58:46
We don't need a flood of players - just two or three good ones. But most of all we need a coach that can get our current players to play well as a team. Silva worked a near miracle at Hull, and started well at Watford. I"m concerned about how it fell off at Watford, but we just have to get behind him and hopes he can work his magic with our squad which actually is n't bad at all - many of them have performed well in the past and in most cases they are not losing form because of age.
The one time we finished 4th in the PL was after a summer when our only significant signings were the journeyman Marcus Bent and bit part player Li Tie. But the team came together and found away to finish above Liverpool in a season in which they won the Champions League.
21 Posted 13/07/2018 at 06:30:10
I do understand, but think as Fran wrote, you're faith in West Ham's business is premature.
Last season we had European football and needed a squad. I was pleased to see Rooney back, but as a squad player... of course he needs to play more regularly or he's probe to go drink driving. For me that was it. I know he went in to score a few more including that great goal against West Ham... but it showed a complete lack of respect.
His performances last season eally weren't good enough to justify his wages. While in the US or China he can cover less ground and hopefully improve the accuracy of those Hollywood passes.
Let's not forget this thread's about Rooney and his shock at the Everton hierarchy not clamouring for him to stay. While I really do wish it had of worked out, so it saddens me to write, but it would be much more damming if we had tried to build a Premier League team around him.
22 Posted 13/07/2018 at 06:30:10
I do understand, but think as Fran wrote, you're faith in West Ham's business is premature.
Last season we had European football and needed a squad. I was pleased to see Rooney back, but as a squad player... of course he needs to play more regularly or he's probe to go drink driving. For me that was it. I know he went in to score a few more including that great goal against West Ham... but it showed a complete lack of respect.
His performances last season eally weren't good enough to justify his wages. While in the US or China he can cover less ground and hopefully improve the accuracy of those Hollywood passes.
Let's not forget this thread's about Rooney and his shock at the Everton hierarchy not clamouring for him to stay. While I really do wish it had of worked out, so it saddens me to write, but it would be much more damming if we had tried to build a Premier League team around him.
23 Posted 13/07/2018 at 07:10:14
Agree with a post above, still worry about where our main source of goals is going to come from.
24 Posted 13/07/2018 at 08:14:21
I haven't even seen the potential that DCL can hit the ball as hard as an Everton Ladies striker yet, let alone score 10 goals!
I'm not sure I see this “enormous potential†that everyone else seems to see in this lad.
He's certainly not a striker with that natural eye for goal, players have that from a young age and fine tune it more as they progress.
For me DCL is more on the lines of a Stuart Barlow, Jermaine Beckford, Danny Cadamarteri type ( not even sure he's as good the latter two yet).
27 Posted 13/07/2018 at 09:12:20
29 Posted 13/07/2018 at 10:18:27
Please remove yourself from any sharp objects calm yourself. It's a thread about an old player past his best leaving, not the impending apocalypse!
30 Posted 13/07/2018 at 10:31:56
I think Rooney going is probably the correct decision, because we don't need Rooney and Sigurdsson - we only need one or the other. But if we had bought a £45 million striker last summer instead of Sigurdsson, i'm Sure Rooney could have still played a part this year, even if it was more and more as a squad man.
Bit of a shame, but it all comes back to last year's botched recruitment...
31 Posted 13/07/2018 at 10:40:53
32 Posted 13/07/2018 at 10:50:14
The club tried to bring back the prodigal son and for a brief while it looked like it may work but for anyone who has a pair of functional eyes could see that Rooney's legs are gone, the turn of speed he once had that made him dangerous has been long gone which is why Man Utd binned him.
The goals Wayne scored last season plus much more that will be needed this season will have to come from the other players Walcott, Lookman, Sigi, Bolasie, DCL, Vlasic, Klaassen. There's nothing saying that they cannot get 5-10 goals each if the team is set up and coached properly with the correct tactics.
Let's try to remain positive everyone, hopefully this is a new dawn for our club! COYB!
33 Posted 13/07/2018 at 10:53:32
You know the reason he left, we were a club going nowhere and he was the most exciting young talent in the Premiership, and just like now the biggest clubs buy the best talent around. So what was Rooneys choice stay at Everton and win nothing, or sign for one of the biggest clubs in world football and win everything. Now let me think given that scenario what would any 18 year old do, I think he made the right choice for him. Now it certainly wasn't a choice as Everton fans that we wanted him to make, but thats life.
Lets also not forget as Ferguson said he was quite prepared not to bid for Rooney for another 12 months, but when Paul Gregg told his mate Freddie Shepherd the Newcastle man that Everton would sell Rooney if they offered 㿀 million as Everton were desperate for money. Ferguson said he had no choice then but to bid or lose him to Newcastle.
34 Posted 13/07/2018 at 10:56:45
Maybe the manager/club in question might tell a prospective signing that he's being bought as a first team starter but personally I can't see anyone being told "Oh don't worry even if you turn up hungover and stinkin' of piss you're in the team mate."
35 Posted 13/07/2018 at 11:10:29
36 Posted 13/07/2018 at 11:11:18
Does it not occur to him that he was very lucky to be offered the chance to play for us again especially when he was considered washed up at UTD 5 years ago.
Hopefully he is feeling rejected and dejected just like we were all them years ago when he left and he can have all of those medals because he won them whilst being hated by a lot of the Supporters of the club he played for.
37 Posted 13/07/2018 at 11:12:57
38 Posted 13/07/2018 at 11:32:04
The truth is Rooney kept us up last season even though played out of position every game. His goals and some of his performances were priceless.
It's the club that fucks things up royally. While Liverpool produce class players like Gerrard and move heaven and earth to keep them we are clueless in developing players and keeping them happy.
But thank fuck we had Rooney last season.
39 Posted 13/07/2018 at 11:32:12
40 Posted 13/07/2018 at 11:44:34
41 Posted 13/07/2018 at 11:46:13
He showed no tactical discipline, he wandered everywhere except where he could still actually be of some use, he stopped playing to his strengths-shooting, attacking the box and scoring- and wanted to reinvent himself as Pirlo to extend his career.
I think he will now repeat that pattern for a season in the US and they will want to get shut like we did.
42 Posted 13/07/2018 at 12:08:21
43 Posted 13/07/2018 at 12:11:08
44 Posted 13/07/2018 at 12:12:16
From your laughable assessment of Sigurdsson as "talentless," to your slobbering over West Ham's okay-at-best recruitment this summer (Yarmolenko? The fact he's even ON West Ham shows how much his stock has plummeted), to your tedious whining about Silva that merits little more than a big, fat "YAWN" in response - well done. Well done indeed.
45 Posted 13/07/2018 at 13:56:27
Too old to be trying to build a team around and forced other players out of position and while Wayne had a decent season he hardly lit up the place (West Ham hattrick aside).
I like Wayne the man but as a player, it didn't work and we need to look forward.
46 Posted 13/07/2018 at 14:21:20
47 Posted 13/07/2018 at 14:40:48
48 Posted 13/07/2018 at 14:50:48
Nicholas #47, that's a truly awful thing to say about Wayne. How can you hate him enough to make that comparison? Trust me, his arrival in DC significantly improves the overall IQ level of the place. And reduces the body-mass index.
49 Posted 13/07/2018 at 14:51:03
50 Posted 13/07/2018 at 14:51:21
Rooney might have finished top scorer but his minutes per goals record was inferior to Niasse. He was the penalty-taker as well and lot of his goals were tap ins that anyone could have scored had they been there instead of him.
He was part of a collective balls-up in the transfer market last summer that hopefully we are now putting right.
51 Posted 13/07/2018 at 15:10:08
52 Posted 13/07/2018 at 15:18:19
Ten years later, Rooney heads to DC United and Ronaldo heads to Juventus for 100 million.
Where did it all go wrong?
53 Posted 13/07/2018 at 15:23:27
Just a guess!
Nevermind the off field antics.
Deal with it and move on. Am sure having 𧴜m in the bank probably eases the pain.
(Top goal scorer with 1/3 of your goals from penalties. Also 10 goals isn't a fantastic return for 150k/week,even Niasse managed 8!)
54 Posted 13/07/2018 at 15:31:08
On his wages and with his diminishing effectiveness, I would have thought it is obvious why we let him go. Right call and nothing to do with Sam Allardyce who, if anything, indulged him.
55 Posted 13/07/2018 at 16:19:30
He needs to just move on now.
56 Posted 13/07/2018 at 16:25:40
57 Posted 13/07/2018 at 18:10:05
58 Posted 13/07/2018 at 18:47:19
59 Posted 13/07/2018 at 19:15:55
60 Posted 14/07/2018 at 10:53:37
“ fuck that eating pasta everyday, I am looking forward to my burgers “!
61 Posted 14/07/2018 at 11:55:22
He was doing some practice shots in Austria pre season training.
Sandro looked good. Sandro scored 15 goals for Malaga don't forget.
Silva may be able to get a tune out of Sandro if Sandro stays.
DCL - I just don't know. If Silvo get can DCL to score this would be great.
Silva's team are count-acting, pressing...different pressing to Liverpool's Clopp.
Silva wants every player in the pitch to play attacking football and to press when they don't have the ball; to play defensive football where need be.
Rooney is like the titanic it took to long to turn. Rooney is slow, Silva needs speed and pressing.
Silva's team will be entirely different to Martinez, Koeman, and Allardyce's.
Silva has box of tricks and can make tactical decisions. Silva looks the real deal. Already, Everton players Williams, Jags etc are already impressed with Silva's training. Hard work routines but interesting seems to be message.
63 Posted 14/07/2018 at 13:02:23
Now nobody's perfect but the drink-driving episode not only set a terrible example but undermined Ronald Koeman's reign at a critical point in the season when the wheels had already started to unravel. Given Wayne's pay structure, not so difficult to understand as a business why the club wishes to invest elsewhere.
Now couple that with bad transfer policy with Wayne needing to drop back into midfield due to a loss of pace (boozing doesn't help) into our key signings position and it's fairly obvious.
I think Wayne did well last season and certainly performed better than most but the club has to think of the future. Much in the same way England has. The game is becoming very much a game of pace more than ever. I'm still glad he came back and wish him all the best at DC United. He'll probably find that living in States for a while will be great for his family.
And on that, have we signed a new striker yet?
64 Posted 14/07/2018 at 13:05:48
He's gone; good riddance – forget about him.
65 Posted 14/07/2018 at 13:06:10
66 Posted 14/07/2018 at 13:15:04
67 Posted 14/07/2018 at 23:54:57
68 Posted 15/07/2018 at 22:19:17
He screwed us over when it suited him; now it's us who don't need him.
"Watch the door doesn't hit you on the way out" is my view.
69 Posted 17/07/2018 at 05:20:48
Add Your Comments
In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.
Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.


1 Posted 12/07/2018 at 21:15:08
Would probably be a good place to start