"Frustrated" - Wayne Rooney provides key DC United update amid Birmingham City links | OneFootball

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Wayne Rooney has been linked with a return to home soil as of late.

The Manchester United icon has had a stop-start affiliation with DC United, whom he initially represented in the twilight of his playing career before Derby County came calling.

The Rams provided a platform for him to see out his days on the pitch on English shores and subsequently try his hand in management, and he featured 35 times for Derby prior to taking the Pride Park helm.

Few clubs in the country were close to being as unstable as Derby were at the time, and such trying circumstances would have really weighed down on any manager in the game- not least a rookie like Rooney.

Still, he did remarkably well to keep them up in his first season, although the mammoth 21-point deduction that was imposed at the beginning of the 2021/22 campaign rendered survival one step too far as they jettisoned to League One alongside Barnsley and Peterborough United.

Rooney had generated a genuine and much-needed connection with supporters, who were disappointed but hardly surprised when the former-forward declined the opportunity to guide their rebuild in the third-tier as he soon made a return to the American capital.

But, just over a year on now and Rooney could be returning to the Championship before long.

John Eustace has reportedly appeared on Rangers' radar following doubts over Michael Beale amid a slow start to the current campaign, and it is believed by The Telegraph that Rooney is being eyed as a potential replacement at Birmingham City if the popular manager does indeed depart north of the border.

Of course, it all hinges upon the situations with Eustace and Beale first, but fresh comments from Rooney have at least thrown his Audi Field future into further doubt.

Rooney's current contract is set to expire in December, but with no movement on that front as of yet, he took time to express his dissatisfaction with exactly that.

He told the Washington Post: “I am slightly disappointed and frustrated that there has been no contact for two months.

"We asked about a new deal, we can sit down and talk about it.

"We haven’t heard back. Either way, I can take whatever the situation is. "I was hoping we would have, either way, at least spoken about it, that hasn’t been the case. "We asked to sit down and speak because planning for next season needs to go ahead. "So we asked two months ago where everything was at, are we moving forward or not moving forward — if that’s the case from their point of view — and we haven’t heard back. "That’s frustrating because, either way, I’d rather know what’s the plan because we have to plan for next season. "We need to do it earlier rather than later.

"The fact we haven’t heard back is probably signalling one thing but I’m sure they’ll have their reasons for that, so I’ll wait and see.”

There is plenty to like about Rooney.

He did his reputation no harm at Derby, where he routinely promoted from within- something that has emerged as a strategic cornerstone in the blue side of the Second City.

Rooney is also the big-name marketable manager that Birmingham's new American ownership - including NFL superstar Tom Brady, no less - would desire in their bid to move the club forwards.

Certain reservations have developed more recently, though, with Rooney struggling to hit the ground running across the Atlantic.

His average of 1.04 points per match ranks 0.10 lower than his score at Derby where the situation was much, much tougher, and 13 wins and 24 losses from 47 games hardly makes for good reading.

With that in mind, it is difficult to contest that he would not arrive as something of a downgrade on Eustace, but nonetheless, his spell in the East Midlands should still give him credit in the bank in the second tier and he may just represent Birmingham's best option if they are forced into sourcing a replacement.