Sam Allardyce: Wayne Rooney has not asked to leave Everton and neither has he had any confrontation with me

Sam Allardyce says Wayne Rooney has not asked to leave Everton, but he can offer no guarantees the former England captain will be a regular starter if both remain at the club next season.

Rooney is wanted by Major League Soccer side DC United, but he will make a decision when it becomes clearer who is in charge at Goodison.

Allardyce’s future is equally uncertain, but he moved to quell the notion Rooney was seeking to leave because of a rift with the coach.

“My understanding of the situation is there seems to have been some negotiation somewhere along the line but as in terms of the clarity as to whether Wayne is leaving or staying I'll find out later today when Wayne comes in for training later on,” said Allardyce.

“I don't get involved in anything regarding transfers in or out or negotiations: all I know is there appears to be an interest from DC United – where that is, where that lies and where Wayne lies with it I can't tell you at the moment.

“Only when I speak to him later today will I find out where the situation lies. I am always comfortable if any player player wants to leave or if any player doesn't want to leave.



“But let's put this right, Wayne Rooney has not asked to leave and neither has Wayne Rooney had any confrontation with me or been in any difficult situation in the time since I've been here because we are two adults and we talk.”

Asked if he could promise Rooney as much game time next season, Allardyce said: “How as a manager can you guarantee anyone to play because if they don't play well you can't select them and if they do play well they stay in the team and that's the simple fact of the matter.

“It is up to them to put their game together on a consistent basis and those are the ones who then play every week because they keep their position in the team by what they produce.

“I think my time with Wayne both with England and here has been extremely interesting talking about his career, talking about how he evolved from a very early age to where he is now.

“He appears to be level-headed and is one of those players who has not got carried away with it and I think that is probably why he has done so much, and played so well and achieved so much. I don't think he lets the outside world influence so as a professional I think he has been absolutely fantastic and his record says that.




Rooney may have played his final game for Everton Credit: Getty Images



“He has had an impact at Everton, yes, in a difficult time for the squad and the turnaround last summer but we've all come through that – Wayne included.

“All the players have achieved a fantastic position in the league from where I started an that is down to all the players not just Wayne getting to grips to the situation and then fighting their way through it and producing results consistently to accumulate the points total we have at the moment.

“Yes we can all player better, we can all do more, yes we can all have done this or that but at the end of the day what they have done has been very good indeed, that is not just Wayne it is the whole squad.

“We have overcome the problems we've had and still produced results, for instance injuries particularly and a loss of form with some players who we expected to do better but overall the squad has worked very hard to achieve what it has achieved.”