Wayne Rooney “in serious talks” about leaving Everton for new club

Wayne Rooney is in talks to explore a new challenge next season.

While he remains Everton's top scorer this term, Rooney has not found the net in almost five months and his return to his boyhood club did not prove as fruitful as the forward would have hoped. Rooney has scored 11 goals in 40 appearances for the Toffees this season but, according to a report in the Washington Post, the 32-year-old is entertaining the possibility of seeing out his career across the pond. It's claimed that the forward is in serious talks to join D.C. United when the Major League Soccer's transfer and trade window opens on July 10. The report claims that there is a 50 per cent chance of D.C. United procuring Rooney's services this summer, while the club continues to monitor the striker's former Manchester United teammates Javier Hernandez and Carlos Tevez, as well as Mario Balotelli. Rooney had been linked with a move to D.C. United last year but instead opted to return to the club that handed him his professional debut in 2002. "I knew that coming back to Everton was more pressure – that’s what I wanted," Rooney told the BBC earlier this year. "I wanted to prove myself again to the Everton fans and to try to help this club move forward and win silverware." Rooney has a year remaining on his current deal at Goodison Park which means that the MLS side would have to offer a transfer fee, as well as make the forward the club's highest-paid player, if they are to bring him Stateside.