Wayne Rooney has been tipped for an immediate return to football with boyhood club Everton to team up with David Moyes.
It’s all change on the blue side of Merseyside after the recent takeover of the Premier League side by American businessman Dan Friedkin.
GettyThat comes as Moyes prepares to return to the top job[/caption]
The new owner made his presence felt on Thursday after wielding the axe on boss Sean Dyche just hours before the Toffees’ FA Cup third-round win over Peterborough.
The 53-year-old’s two-year spell in charge came to an abrupt end with Everton sitting a point above the bottom three and on a torrid run of just one win in 11 games.
Former manager David Moyes has agreed to make a stunning return to Goodison Park.
Moyes is heading back to Everton 12 years after he left the club for Manchester United on a two-and-a-half year contract.
He spent 11 years with the Toffees and will be tasked with ensuring their Premier League survival this season, while also leading them into their new stadium at Bramley-Moore dock.
And Moyes might well not be the only club legend coming back.
Discussing Everton’s next move, talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent Alex Crook lifted the lid on who could be Moyes’ future right-hand man.
Asked whether that could be former Everton star and recent England interim boss Lee Carsley, Crook said: “Carsley won’t leave England Under 21s to be a No.2.”
When Watford legend Troy Deeney tipped Rooney for the job, Crook responded: “Yeah, I wouldn’t rule that out.”
Rooney was sacked as Plymouth manager on New Year’s Eve – just seven months into a three year deal at the club.
The 39-year-old will be keen to return to football in some capacity after an ill-fated managerial stint at Birmingham before getting his chance at the Devon-based club.
And that could see him return to the place he made his name as a teenager in 2002.
Rooney netted 28 times in 117 games for the Merseyside club over two spells either side of a trophy-laden 13-year stint at Manchester United.
Speaking about his emotional return to Goodison Park in 2017, Rooney said: “I knew that coming back to Everton was more pressure – that’s what I wanted.
“I wanted to prove myself again to the Everton fans and to try to help this club move forward and win silverware.
“I think it was the perfect fit for me and hopefully in the next two or three years we can do that.”
It was Moyes who handed Rooney his league debut 23 years ago against Tottenham – six months after taking over as manager.
The prospect of the pair teaming up to help turn around Everton’s fortunes is likely to whet the appetite of an Everton fanbase who have had little to cheer about in recent seasons.
Everton are not in action again until next Wednesday when they host Aston Villa in the Premier League.
By then, things could look very different although vastly familiar in the Toffees dugout as they bid to stave off relegation for a fourth-consecutive campaign.