Wayne Rooney set to be handed immediate return to work in mega-money deal after Man Utd legend axed by Plymouth
WAYNE ROONEY is set to be offered an instant return back to work, Sun Online can reveal.
The England legend left Plymouth Argyle after a disastrous run as manager which saw the Championship side rooted to the bottom of the League.
A statement issued on Tuesday morning revealed that Rooney and the south-west club had agreed to part ways.
But the former Man Utd and Everton striker isn’t going to be twiddling his thumbs for long.
Sources have told Sun Online Rooney is likely to be offered a mega-bucks deal to work as a football pundit, having impressed during screen stints on ITV and Sky.
A TV insider said: “Wayne is regarded as one of the best pundits in the business.
“He’s very, very knowledgeable about the game.
“And even though he’s actually quite a shy person, he really feels at home in a TV studio.
The insider added: “It’s been a rubbish end to 2024 for Wayne, but he’s not going to be out of work for long.
“He’ll be offered punditry work straight away and there’s interest from Sky in a potential long-term deal to tie him down as a pundit.
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“Wayne still harbours ambitions of making it as a manager.
“But, like Gary Neville, it might end up being the case that he can carve out a more successful and lucrative career as a pundit rather than as a manager in the dugout.”
Before accepting the Argyle job, Rooney had been working as a pundit on a string of channels.
He would regularly discuss and review England and Manchester United games.
He also regularly appeared alongside Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Roy Keane on The Overlap.
Rooney left Championship strugglers Plymouth by mutual agreement on Tuesday.
Wayne Rooney's record-breaking career
WAYNE Rooney took the football world by storm when he made his debut for 2002 with Everton.
He quickly became the club’s youngest-ever goalscorer aged 16 years and 342 days and was named the BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year.
The striker joined Manchester United in 2004 and spent 13 years at Old Trafford. He went on to make 559 appearances for the Red Devils and scored 253 goals. To this day he is still the club’s all-time leading goalscorer.
Following his spell with United, Rooney returned to Everton for a season. He also spent one-season stints with D.C. United and Derby County at the end of his career.
As well as his impressive club career, Rooney is also England’s second-highest goalscorer with 53 goals in 120 appearances, behind only Harry Kane.
After hanging up his boots, the England icon turned to a career in management.
He took charge of Derby County in 2020 and managed to just about save the club from relegation from the Championship at the end of his first season.
However, with Derby handed a 21-point deduction the following campaign, he was unable to keep them up again and subsequently left.
Then came a 15-month spell in charge of MLS side D.C. United. He failed to impress during his time in Washington and parted ways with the club at the end of the 2023 regular season.
Rooney was controversially handed the Birmingham job in October 2023, replacing John Eustace with the club doing well and sixth in the Championship table.
However, in 15 games he suffered nine defeats and managed just two wins. He was sacked in January 2024 with Birmingham down in 20th. The club were relegated to League One at the end of the campaign.
He returned to management in May with Plymouth Argyle but managed just five wins in 25 games. The United legend now finds himself out of work once again.
The 39-year-old former England captain oversaw just four league wins and suffered 13 defeats in 23 Championship games after taking charge of the Pilgrims in May.
He leaves with the club marooned at the foot of the division.
Rooney arrived at Home Park four months after being sacked by Birmingham City following an 83-day spell in charge that brought nine defeats in 15 games.
He and his players were booed following Sunday’s 2-0 defeat by Oxford United – their sixth defeat in a nine-game winless run that began in early November.
Rooney defiantly said he did not take criticism “personally” after that loss.
But it was enough to end the tenure of the man who was lauded as “the perfect candidate to provide the exciting and attacking brand of football” when appointed.
Under Rooney – who set scoring records for England and Manchester United during his decorated playing career – Plymouth have dropped to the bottom of the table, scored the joint fewest goals in the second tier and have conceded more than any other club in England’s top four divisions.
Assistant head coach Mike Phelan and first-team coach Simon Ireland have also departed the club.