Ahead of his first game in charge of Birmingham City this Saturday, Wayne Rooney has come out to water down rumours of his salary that have been reported in the national press.
Reports suggested that the former Manchester United striker is set to earn three times the amount his processor said to be earning.
John Eustace was sacked controversially, with Rooney already in line to replace him at St. Andrews. The new regime seemingly wanted a ‘big’ name to take over in the dugout.
Big Money
It was always going to take a good deal to bring Rooney back from across the pond where he had been in charge of DC United, and the amount being reported was close to £30,000 per week. An amount that would surpass his salary in the USA and over three times the amount that Eustace was earning.
The 37-year-old former Derby County manager came out swinging today as he slammed the reports that would mean he would earn up to £1.5m in the efforts to maintain the Birmingham promotion push.
Talking to BBC Radio WM he said. “There’s lots of stuff, especially with it being me. I understand that. There’s lot of rumours which go round, but what’s been out there is a load of rubbish, to be honest.
“As I said last week I came here because I really like the project. I’ve turned down jobs which would have paid a lot more but I’ve come here because I want to be successful. And I want to get this club back to the Premier League. But, as for some of the rumours, I just don’t get involved with it.”
We sat down with Wayne Rooney to discuss his first week at the club and the game against Middlesbrough! 🗣️ #MIDBIR
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) October 19, 2023
Former Teammate
The subject then turned to the game against Middlesbrough as he comes up against an old United teammate. “Michael’s [Carrick] a good friend of mine,” he said. “And he’s doing a fantastic job at Middlesbrough. I’m pleased for him in that respect. We spoke early last week, but we then said we’d get this game out of the way and speak again after.
“To come up against him first time is great but we both want to win. I’m looking forward to seeing him. But, over the 90 minutes, it’s Middlesbrough v Birmingham City – and we’ll both be doing our best to win the match.”
Writer’s View
It is clear that whatever Wayne Rooney says and does will make headlines. The fact he has felt the need to come out and defend himself so early could be a precursor to interviews in the future. Especially if things don’t go to plan. It is always hard to know exactly what a player or manager earns, and why should we know the exact amount? Should the reports be true it just adds more pressure and is likely the reason why he has denied the figure.
