Section:GDN 1N PaGe:43 Edition Date:190807 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 6/8/2019 20:32 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
Wednesday 7 August 2019 The Guardian •
43replacement for David Nugent
which, with all respect to the latter,
is something of an upgrade.
That is with caveats of course.
Rooney’s legs went some time ago.
Louis van Gaal famously told this
paper in June that the striker was
“over the hill” by 2014. However,
Van Gaal added that, despite this,
the striker remained one of his best
players and Rooney scored 44 goals
for United in the Dutchman’s two
seasons at the club. He has scored 23
in 42 appearances for DC United, too
(yes, the level is not quite so good).
Regardless of age, size or attitude,
the boy knows where the goal is.
Then there is the attitude. In
terms of commitment, on the pitch
and the training fi eld, it is top-notch
( the extra curricular activities can
wait). José Mourinho, whose martial
approach to football meant he was
n ot that keen on Anthony, tried to
sign Rooney for Chelsea and, when
he allowed him to leave Old Traff ord
for Everton, called him a “model
professional” whose “experience,
focus and determination will be
missed ”. That is what a team like
Derby County, accustomed to
getting close to the line but not over
it, will be adding to their set up.
only a disgruntled player to worry
about but a disgruntled coach.
In this instance, that is not only a
disgruntled player and a disgruntled
coach but one who won the Premier
League’s Goal of the 20 Seasons
award to boot.
There is also the question of
how Rooney will enjoy being
a trophy scalp for some of the
Championship’s tougher nuts
when he does play. Or quite what
contribution he will have to the
coaching setup. It is certain that
Cocu sees Rooney as being there
to share his experience. Will that
be enough for a man who makes
no secret of his wish to move into
management soon?
A lot of these concerns are, to a
certain extent, irrelevant. For the
biggest alarm-bell ringer of the lot
is that this deal has been done, at
least in part, out of commercial
interest. The video on social media
announcing Rooney’s arrival began
with a lengthy shot of the initials
WR32. That is Rooney’s new squad
number, which just happens to
chime with that of the club sponsor,
32Red.
Derby’s executive chairman, Mel
Morris, who this year sold Pride Parkto himself, was quite up front about
the commercial opportunities the
signing presented. “On the back of
Wayne joining the club, we have
just been off ered a record-breaking
sponsorship deal with our
principal shirt sponsor, 32Red,”
he said. It seems fair to assume that
Derby have since accepted that
off er.
Signing Rooney will bring
money into Derby (though, if they
get anywhere near paying his
£100,000-per-week salary at DC, it
will also mean money going out).
That money will require, at least
some of the time, that Rooney is a
present, visible part of the club. If
the England icon falls out of form,
for example, or gets arrested for a
drinking-related misdemeanour
(as he has been twice in the past
two years ) then what does Cocu do
then?
The Derby manager is himself
no footballing small fry and, as a
Dutchman, will not be shy about
expressing his own feelings should
the moment require it. Whether
this deal is successful will come
down in many ways to perception
and Cocu will be the guy who has
to manage that. Good luck, Phillip!Arsenal focus
on defence
despite off er of
Coutinho loan
Fabrizio Romano and Nick AmesArsenal are prioritising a deal for a
central defender despite Philippe
Coutinho’s representatives contacting
the club to see whether they would be
interested in signing the Brazilian on
loan for the upcoming season.
Coutinho is open to leaving Bar-
celona this summer after a stop-start
fi rst 18 months at the club and Giuliano
Bertolucci and Kia Joorabchian are
looking at potential suitors. They have
approached Arsenal to see whether
they are interested. However, the
Premier League club have told them
that at the moment their focus is on
securing a central defender. The club
captain, Laurent Koscielny, joined
Bordeaux for a fee of €5m (£4.6m)
yesterday and Unai Emery is looking
to strengthen his defence.
The manager is likely to start the
Premier League season with Sokratis
Papastathopoulos and Calum Cham-
bers as a centre-back pairing at New-
castle on Sunday. He also has Shkodran
Mustafi available, although Arsenal
are open to off ers for the World Cup
winner. Rob Holding, meanwhile, is
continuing his recovery from a long-
term injury.
Arsenal are interested in RB Leip-
zig’s Dayot Upamecano and Juventus’s
Daniele Rugani but are not close to
agreeing a fee for either player. The
Bundesliga club want £70m for the
20-year-old Frenchman while Juve
have quoted Arsenal £50m for the
25-year-old Italian international.
There has been no contact between
Arsenal and Barcelona regarding a
potential loan deal for Coutinho at this
point but both sides are keeping their
options open with only 48 hours left
of the transfer window.
Koscielny had a medical at Bor-
deaux yesterday. Arsenal confi rmed
in the afternoon that the centre-back
was joining the Ligue 1 club “subject to
regulatory processes”. Personal terms
were not a problem and it brings an end
to a nine-year spell in north London.
In one way the move is a blow for
Emery on the eve of the new season
with Arsenal’s short-staffi ng at the
back already an issue. But it removes
a signifi cant problem from his hands
as Koscielny made it clear this summer
that he wanted to leave.
That desire led to a dismayed
Koscielny refusing to join Arsenal’s
pre-season tour of the US after the club
refused to end his contract a year early
and let him depart for free.▲ Philippe Coutinho is open to a move
after 18 diffi cult months at BarcelonaThis leads to the less energi sing
aspects of th e arrangement.
Player-managers one can just
about understand although,
Kenny Dalglish excepted, they do
n ot have a great reputation. And
player-coach is a more complicated
beast altogether. A player-manager
might pick himself ahead of another.
But, if a manager chooses not to
oals pick his player-coach, he has not
o
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pick his player-coach, he has notWayne Rooney
has been a big
hit in the USРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS