PREMIER LEAGUE
Wayne Rooney targets Everton manager role
Although the 32-year-old forward is not ready to hang up his boots, former England captain Rooney hopes to manage Everton in the future.
Wayne Rooney wants to manage Everton following the conclusion of his playing career.
Rooney returned to boyhood side Everton last July after 13 years at Manchester United, where he won five Premier League titles, the 2007-08 Champions League and became the club's record scorer.
But Rooney has not been a guaranteed starter for the Toffees since the appointment of Sam Allardyce as Ronald Koeman's successor at Goodison Park.
And the 32-year-old is already planning the next move in a distinguished career that saw him captain England and hit a record 53 goals in 119 international appearances.
Rooney: "I am determined to become a manager"
"The main thing I want to have a go at is management," Rooney told the Telegraph. "I would love to stay at Everton in a coaching role or hopefully manager one day.
"It is something I want to do, to stay involved, but if that is not possible I will look to see where the opportunities are for me. I am determined to become a manager.
"From next season I want to be doing some coaching sessions with the Under-14s at Everton. It would be good to have all my [coaching] badges by the time I have finished [playing], but it is also about having the chance to carry on when I have, so I can get straight into coaching."
Rooney hopeful playing role "can grow into something beyond that"
A switch to the dugout is not imminent for Rooney, who has hit 10 Premier League goals for Everton this term to top the club's goal charts, although scoring against Liverpool at Anfield ticked off one of his remaining career goals.
"Obviously my first objective is to do well as a player over the next few years," Rooney added. "Then I hope the role can grow into something beyond that. It is something I will talk about with the club when they and I feel the time is right.
"There were things I had been dreaming of I had not done for Everton. What I really regretted was I had not scored against Liverpool for Everton. I did it for Manchester United but as a youngster it was never a dream of mine to score at Anfield for Manchester United.
"I was an Everton fan, so as a young Everton fan I was dreaming of scoring at Anfield for Everton. When I came back I was thinking about the chance to do that. So to do it this year fulfilled that."