Wayne Rooney recalls hilarious attempt to sign player for Derby County at a Dubai waterpark

Add as preferred source on Google

Wayne Rooney may be one of the best strikers to ever play in the Premier League, but his negotiation skills as a head coach need some work.

After an outstanding career spanning 19 years, Wayne Rooney’s first venture into football management came when he was head coach at Derby County.

Manchester United legend Rooney took over at Pride Park in November 2020, and would resign less than two years later in 2022 after the Rams’ relegation to League One at the end of the season.

Rooney’s time as Derby boss remains the best stint he has enjoyed in the dugout, following lacklustre spells in charge at DC United, Birmingham City, and most recently, Plymouth Argyle.

Now, Rooney has taken a step into punditry and media work after he was sacked by Plymouth in December, and has recalled a ridiculous story.

• READ MORE: Stoke City starlets on fire in the Vertu Motors Trophy with five goals scored in just 99 minutes

Wayne Rooney tried to sign player for Derby County at Dubai waterpark

Despite being out of the EFL limelight since his Argyle exit last year, the Red Devils hero has still been involved in Championship headlines.

Last month, Rooney slammed Tom Brady after the Birmingham City owner’s controversial comments about his time as Blues boss.

Now, Rooney has recalled the time he tried to sign a player for Derby at the Atlantis Water Park in Dubai, to no avail.

“I met a player at the Atlantis Water Park in Dubai. I had a meeting with him to try and get him to sign for Derby.

“Because he was in Dubai, so I said, ‘I’ll meet you there’. So we’ve met there.

“And I actually had a skin-tight wet top on where I’d been on the slides because if I don’t have a top on, I’ll just burn.

“So it’s like one of them swim tops with a man on a surfboard or something on the front of it. It was sticking to me and I was like, ‘What am I doing?’”

When asked: “Did he sign?”, a laughing Rooney admitted: “No.”

Unfortunately, Rooney did not name the player who said no to a Pride Park transfer next to a waterslide.

• READ MORE: Birmingham City’s Demarai Gray ruled out of Jamaica internationals amid fresh injury scare

Wayne Rooney’s coaching career could be over after Plymouth Argyle exit

After scoring over 300 goals for clubs and his country, Rooney’s playing career will always be remembered with much higher esteem than his endeavours as a head coach.

The Man Utd legend endured a torrid time as Argyle boss in the first half of last season, which led him to be replaced by Miron Muslic, who failed to keep Plymouth safe from relegation to League One.

Following Argyle’s relegation, Muslic aimed a subtle dig at Rooney, indicating that Plymouth would have been “far away from the relegation zone” if he were their head coach at the start of last season.

It remains to be seen whether Rooney will venture back into management. But if he does, hopefully he will have brushed up on his transfer negotiation technique.