Everton Fan View: Why I hope Rooney has played his last game in Blue

There has been mounting speculation today regarding Wayne Rooney. If he does leave Everton for the MLS, it would mark the end of a reunion that always seemed destined to happen.

His season back at Everton hasn’t been a great one for the club, with one manager sacked and the other being deeply unpopular with the fans. Rooney himself has had a decent year, but it’s hard to judge his performances after predictably being used in a number of different roles.

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He has scored a few goals, including a handful of penalties, but probably hasn’t made the impact that he wishes he did. If he wanted to come back and help win some long-awaited silverware for Everton, then that looks a long way off right now. Everton didn’t come close in the cups this year, having early exits from all three of them.

The only positive impact Rooney can have at the club in the future will be through the nurturing of youth talent, but you can’t keep one of your highest earners on the books for that reason alone. It was quickly worked out his season that he is no longer a striker, we have much better options at number 10, he is not mobile enough to play in the midfield and not quick enough to play out wide.

We knew all of this before, but he was still brought back to the club. It was hoped that his return to his boyhood club would spark more energy in his play, but he’s still the same player he was in his last year at Man Utd. Just like it was time for Man Utd to move on from Wayne Rooney, it’s time Everton did too.

He was never going to accept a bench role, and his playing time at the club should be further reduced if Everton spend well in the summer. If it is, we’ll have an unhappy player at the club who still has a reputation which would attract a lot of unwanted media attention. He can hardly last for 90 minutes anymore, and we need players that can be relied on.

It’s been nice to have him back in many ways, and I almost feel as though that our poor season has hidden his flaws, as there has been more focus on other areas. An Everton team playing well and playing good free-flowing football has little place for him anymore.

I’ll always have a soft spot for Rooney, it brought joy seeing him score in a blue shirt again. I feel as though, however, it’s time for Everton to move on. I hope he has an American adventure and enjoys it. In 2004 the Everton squad wasn’t good enough for a player of Wayne Rooney’s skill, after the summer of 2018, it should be too good for him.