West Bromwich Albion have launched an 11th-hour bid to snatch Wayne Rooney from the clutches of Derby County. The former England captain flew into Heathrow airport on Tuesday morning intending to agree on terms with Derby on a lucrative deal to become the club’s player-coach.
“He was keen to return to the UK... we’re now focused on getting...
It’s understood the deal will cost around £100,000 a week and will be supported by commercial sponsors as Derby work to comply with financial fair play guidelines.
However, West Brom sporting director Luke Dowling has contacted Rooney’s representatives and is exploring the possibility of mounting a rival bid to take the 33-year old to the Hawthorns and link up with Slaven Bilic.
Rooney has been a huge hit in MLS since joining DC United from Everton last summer. He has 23 goals and 14 assists in 43 appearances for DC, leading the club from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to the playoffs last year.
He still has two years left on contract but was allowed leave to return to England on holiday recently for ‘a mental and physical break’ by coach Ben Olsen.
Sensing he was open to curtailing his time in Washington, Derby County and Premier League Burnley were alerted to the situation and Derby chief executive Stephen Pearce flew to the US to discuss a deal last week. West Brom and Dowling would want to bring him in before Thursday’s transfer deadline however so that he could make an immediate impact on their challenge for promotion.
DC United have lined up another forward in Norwegian Ola Kamara but had planned for Rooney to be facing LA Galaxy on Sunday.
