Former Everton striker Wayne Rooney has broken his silence on his Goodison Park exit, claiming it was Farhad Moshiri who forced him out of the club.
Rooney left Everton for the second time this summer as he joined Washington-based Major League Soccer outfit DC United.
The 32-year-old boyhood Evertonian has spoken out to say it was not then manager Sam Allardyce that wanted him to leave but the Blues owner.
Rooney returned to Goodison Park in July 2017 on a two-year deal from Manchester United - a club who he joined from Everton 13 years earlier.
England’s record goalscorer had scored 11 goals by Christmas in his second spell at Everton but says he struggled to get a straight answer from the club over his future, as speculation on the subject increased.
“(Leaving) was the owner’s decision. He knew he was going to bring a lot of players in and wanted to free money up. That’s his decision but I’m disappointed how it happened,” Rooney told a Sunday newspaper.
“I started to think: ‘Is there something being said?’ So I went to see Sam (Allardyce). I said ‘listen, I’m not a kid, what’s going on - do you want me or not?’
“Sam was the honest one. He said, ‘If I’m still here next season you might not play as much but I still want you’. But then he said: ‘I’m not sure the owner has the same opinion’. And trying to get an honest answer out of the owner took three months.
“I kept trying and trying. All I wanted was clarity. Even (current Everton boss) Marco Silva was surprised because before he came in he was told I was leaving - but that was before I was told I could leave.”
