Wayne Rooney has revealed which player he tried to sign during his time at Derby County.
Rooney spent 17 months at Pride Park between January 2021 and June 2022.
And despite having to navigate through a multitude of financial issues, he managed to keep Derby in the Championship as they survived by one point on the final day of the 2020/21 season.
In the following, he did a remarkable job under the circumstances.
The Rams were deducted 12 points after entering administration and a further nine for breaching EFL accounting rules. That ultimately gave them a 21-point deduction which saw them relegated to League One.
Without the deduction, they would have been on 55 points and in 18th position.
Rooney did an excellent job despite what was thrown at him and the former Manchester United striker has now revealed the surprise player he attempted to sign during his tenure.
Wayne Rooney tried to sign Tyler Roberts at Derby County
Rooney is currently working with Tyler Roberts at Birmingham City.
The 24-year-old joined the Blues from Leeds United in the summer, however, he suffered a calf injury in the first game and has only just come back into training.
Upon his return, Rooney has expressed his long-term admiration for the Welsh international.
He said: “He’s a player I tried to sign at Derby County on loan so he’s clearly a player I like. We know there’s a real player in there. The issue which we’ve had is getting him on the pitch.
“He’s an experienced player in terms of he’s played at international level, so the quicker we can get him up to speed… of course we have to be a little bit cautious over the next couple of weeks because we’ve had players getting re-injured throughout the season. The quicker we can get him on the pitch the better.”
It was in January 2021 when Rooney attempted to bring him on loan from Leeds to aid them in their battle against relegation, though a move never materialised and Roberts remained at Elland Road.
Once the attacker does return to first-team action, he will need to save his manager’s skin.
Rooney’s managerial record at Birmingham City
Rooney replaced John Eustace as manager in October when Birmingham were battling for the playoffs and they’ve since plummeted down the Championship table.
In nine matches in charge this term, he’s only collected one victory and that has left supporters cursing the decision to sack Eustace.
With the Blues only four points above the relegation zone, Rooney has done a terrible job at St Andrew’s.
And perhaps Derby supporters are thankful they’ve got Paul Warne in charge.