October 10 – After quitting Major League Soccer (MLS) club DC United, ex-England captain and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney is reportedly finalising terms to become the manager of English Championship club Birmingham City.
Rooney took the MLS job in July 2022 but after DC United missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, he parted company.
Rooney told media he had done everything he could to get DC into the play-off stage having spent two years there as a player towards the end of his career.
The Birmingham opportunity has happened very quickly with Rooney saying on leaving DC United that he was not going to another job. Within hours he was being linked with Birmingham City.
Rooney first stepped into management with Derby County in 2020 as an initial caretaker replacement for Phillip Cocu, before retiring from playing in order to take the job full-time.
He managed to steer the Rams to Championship safety in his first season in charge, but breaches of financial rules saw the club docked 12 points during the 2021/22 campaign and they were relegated to League One.
Rooney resigned shortly afterwards and now looks likely to replace John Eustace at Birmingham.
Eustace was fired despite a start to the season that sees the club in the play-off place and very much in the mix for promotion to the Premier League.
“It is essential that the Board of Directors and the football management are fully aligned on the importance of implementing a winning mentality and a culture of ambition across the entire Football Club,” the Blues said in a statement.
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