Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney. (Photo : Getty Images)
Manchester United team captain Wayne Rooney is reportedly being lured to play in China by Chinese Super League club Shanghai SIPG FC for an annual salary of £25.4 million, which would make him one of the highest-paid footballers in the world today.
Metro reported that the 30-year-old England national team skipper is being persuaded by his former national team coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who is the current manager of Shanghai SIPG, "to join him" in China for the abovementioned compensation.
The report mentioned that following a lackluster first half of the season, the Liverpool, England native is now playing well for the Red Devils, netting seven times in his last seven games, which has allegedly drawn the interest of Chinese coaches particularly Eriksson.
If Rooney accepts the said offer, he would become the fourth highest-paid football player in the world today, moving past Real Madrid's Gareth Bale who is currently earning £24.1 million ($34.9 million) with the La Liga giants, via Forbes.
Another Los Blancos player, Cristiano Ronaldo, still tops the list with a salary of £54.6 million ($79 million), followed by Barcelona's five-time Ballon d'Or awardee Lionel Messi at £48.7 million ($70.5 million). Occupying the third spot is Paris Saint-Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimović, who earns £28.9 million ($41.8 million).
Rooney's contract with the multi-titled English club will expire in 2019, as per the Daily Express.
The 5-foot-9 forward has been with the Red Devils since 2004 after he was acquired from Everton FC for a transfer fee of £25.6 million, the highest ever at that time for players under 20 years old.
Rooney is now in his 12th season with United and has appeared in a total of 509 games in all competitions, scoring 244 goals during the said time period. Before that, he played for Everton in 77 games and have netted 17 times.
The England international is one of the most decorated British football players of all time. He was named the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Players' Player of the Year during the 2009-2010 season and have won the PFA Young Player of the Year award twice, in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, which are just some of the many individual awards he has so far received.
