Cristiano Ronaldo must "stay patient" and take his opportunities when they arise if he is to reignite his career, according to former Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney.

Portugal international Ronaldo has endured a difficult time of things in his second season back at Old Trafford, having started just one of United's seven Premier League games.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner led the scoring charts for United in the previous campaign with 24 goals, but his only goal in nine outings this term was a penalty against Sheriff.

That came in the Europa League, a competition Ronaldo – the Champions League's all-time record scorer – is now having to use to prove himself to manager Erik ten Hag.

Rooney, who played alongside Ronaldo between 2004 and 2009, says his former colleague will be finding life on the substitutes' bench tough but can still turn things around.

"The manager's obviously gone a different way in terms of how they're playing and been successful," said D.C. United head coach Rooney.

"Cristiano... him and [Lionel] Messi are two of the greatest players to ever play the game, but ultimately time catches up with us all. 

"He's obviously not the player he was when he was 22 or 23, for instance. It's a tough one for him.

"Knowing him, it'll be very difficult to sit on the bench. I'm sure if he stays patient, his chance will come and it's then him taking those chances and trying to force his way back in."

This is the first season since 2005-06, during his first spell at United, that Ronaldo has failed to score in his opening six league appearances.

The Sporting CP academy product has had 12 shots across 207 minutes without scoring in the top flight this season, generating an expected goals (xG) value of 0.8.

Only playmaker Christian Eriksen (1.2) has a higher xG among United players who have yet to score in the league this term.

Ronaldo is expected to be part of United's squad for Sunday's trip to Everton, against whom the Red Devils have won just one of their past seven league matches.

Reigning MLS Cup champions New York City slumped to their fifth loss from their past six games as Christian Benteke debuted for DC United who claimed an upset 2-1 win on Wednesday.

City had ended a three-game losing run with a 2-0 win at Chicago Fire 10 days before losing to Orlando City on the weekend but their poor form continued at Red Bull Arena.

Ola Kamara tapped in from point blank range to give the visitors at 24th-minute lead, but Heber side-footed in an equalizer three minutes later.

Steven Birnbaum restored United's lead with a header from a Martin Rodriguez free-kick in the 57th minute and City could not find a response with David Ochoa palming away Gedion Zelalem's 95th-minute effort.

The win is Wayne Rooney's second since taking over at United who are still last in the Eastern Conference, while it sees City slide down to fourth in the east.

Riqui Puig scored a spectacular late equalizer with a long-range curler after a give-and-go to earn LA Galaxy a 2-2 draw away to Toronto.

Douglas Costa had put the Galaxy into a 24th-minute lead before Toronto hit back with second-half goals to Jesus Jimenez and Filippo Bernardeschi before the Spaniard's 89th-minute strike.

Riqui Puig was making only his third appearance for the Galaxy following his August move from Barcelona.

The result dents star-studded Toronto's playoffs aspirations, leaving them 10th in the east, while the Galaxy are eighth in the west.

Philadelphia Union became the second team behind LAFC to book their postseason berth with a 4-1 home win over Atlanta United.

Julian Carranza, Mikael Uhre, Daniel Gazdag and Nathan Harriel were all among the goals for Union who are eight points clear in the east.

New York Red Bulls moved up to third in the east with a 1-0 win at second-placed Montreal with Lewis Morgan hitting the winner in the 43rd minute.

LAFC suffered a shock 2-1 loss to lowly Houston Dynamo, who condemning the Western Conference leaders to their third straight defeat.

Inter Miami slumped to back-to-back losses with a 1-0 defeat at Columbus Crew, while New England's winless run extended to four games after a goalless draw with struggling Chicago Fire who snapped a three-game losing run.

Hany Mukhtar netted a hat-trick as Nashville beat Colorado Rapids 4-1, while Orlando City came from two goals down to defeat Seattle Sounders 3-2.

Real Salt Lake proved too good for Minnesota United 3-0 and Portland Timbers moved into the west's top seven with a narrow win against second-placed Austin 2-1.

Reigning MLS Cup champions New York City slumped to their fifth loss from their past six games as Christian Benteke debuted for DC United who claimed an upset 2-1 win on Wednesday.

City had ended a three-game losing run with a 2-0 win at Chicago Fire 10 days before losing to Orlando City on the weekend but their poor form continued at Red Bull Arena.

Ola Kamara tapped in from point blank range to give the visitors at 24th-minute lead, but Heber side-footed in an equalizer three minutes later.

Steven Birnbaum restored United's lead with a header from a Martin Rodriguez free-kick in the 57th minute and City could not find a response with David Ochoa palming away Gedion Zelalem's 95th-minute effort.

The win is Wayne Rooney's second since taking over at United who are still last in the Eastern Conference, while it sees City slide down to fourth in the east.

Riqui Puig scored a spectacular late equalizer with a long-range curler after a give-and-go to earn LA Galaxy a 2-2 draw away to Toronto.

Douglas Costa had put the Galaxy into a 24th-minute lead before Toronto hit back with second-half goals to Jesus Jimenez and Filippo Bernardeschi before the Spaniard's 89th-minute strike.

Riqui Puig was making only his third appearance for the Galaxy following his August move from Barcelona.

The result dents star-studded Toronto's playoffs aspirations, leaving them 10th in the east, while the Galaxy are eighth in the west.

Philadelphia Union became the second team behind LAFC to book their postseason berth with a 4-1 home win over Atlanta United.

Julian Carranza, Mikael Uhre, Daniel Gazdag and Nathan Harriel were all among the goals for Union who are eight points clear in the east.

New York Red Bulls moved up to third in the east with a 1-0 win at second-placed Montreal with Lewis Morgan hitting the winner in the 43rd minute.

LAFC suffered a shock 2-1 loss to lowly Houston Dynamo, who condemning the Western Conference leaders to their third straight defeat.

Inter Miami slumped to back-to-back losses with a 1-0 defeat at Columbus Crew, while New England's winless run extended to four games after a goalless draw with struggling Chicago Fire who snapped a three-game losing run.

Hany Mukhtar netted a hat-trick as Nashville beat Colorado Rapids 4-1, while Orlando City came from two goals down to defeat Seattle Sounders 3-2.

Real Salt Lake proved too good for Minnesota United 3-0 and Portland Timbers moved into the west's top seven with a narrow win against second-placed Austin 2-1.

Harry Kane expressed his pride after moving to joint-third in the Premier League's all-time goalscoring charts with a brace in Tottenham's entertaining win over Nottingham Forest.

Kane scored the 200th league goal of his career after just five minutes at the City Ground, and although he saw a second-half penalty saved by Dean Henderson, the England captain atoned by nodding home a late second to secure a 2-0 win.

In doing so, Kane joined Andy Cole on 187 Premier League goals. Only Alan Shearer (260) and Wayne Rooney (208) have now scored more in the competition's history.

Kane described that duo as two of the all-time greats as he looked to take his goalscoring exploits even further after firing Spurs to victory on Sunday.

"It's still a long way away, for sure, but I still feel fit, I feel I have many more years left in the locker," Kane told Sky Sports of Shearer's record.

"Every season I want to score goals, I want to be amongst those names, and I'm excited for the challenge.

"Alan and Wayne are two of the best strikers England have ever had so to even be in that category is nice for me. 

"But for sure, I want to keep pushing myself, see how far I can go, and so far it's been a good start to the season."

Kane's talismanic display followed another record-breaking performance last week, when he surpassed Sergio Aguero to become the highest Premier League goalscorer for a single club in a win over Wolves. 

Meanwhile, having taken 10 points from their first four Premier League games, Spurs have made their best start since they opened the 2009-10 campaign with four consecutive victories.

They have also gone unbeaten through their first four league matches for just the second time in 13 seasons. The last time they did so, in 2016-17, Mauricio Pochettino led them to a second-placed Premier League finish.

And Kane believes Antonio Conte's men are well placed to push for major honours, adding: "I'm not going to rule anything out, but also I know there's a lot of top, top teams in the Premier League and the Champions League.

"Of course, we're aiming to be successful and win something, as I've said for a long, long time now. We just can't get carried away," he added.

"We've started really well, we've got a great squad and a great manager. I can feel amongst the fans a lot of excitement, which is great, but it's a marathon, not a sprint.

"There's a lot of games to play and we've just got to make sure we keep knocking them off and when we're not playing well, keep winning games.

"Obviously we've still got a World Cup, so after the World Cup, we'll see where we're at and go from there."

Kane was assisted by Dejan Kulusevski for the opener before nodding home Richarlison's terrific outside-of-the-boot cross for his second, as the former Everton man impressed after replacing Son Heung-Min from the bench.

With Son failing to find the net this season despite Tottenham's impressive form, Kane hailed the newfound competition in their attack. 

"If you want to be a top team, you're going to have to compete for every position. I think that's what we've created with the squad that we have now," Kane added.

"Richie, whenever he's had an opportunity to play, whenever he's trained, he's done really, really well. He's biting at the bit to play. We have a lot of games coming up so we're going to need everyone.

"I know Sonny might be frustrated with not scoring yet this season, but Sonny's a really important player for us and if we're going to achieve anything this year, we need him to keep doing what he's doing, working for the team. He'll pop up with goals, no doubt.

"When players are maybe not quite at it, you need players from the bench to make an impact and Richie's doing that.

"I think we've got a fantastic manager, we've got a really strong squad. I think we're going to need that squad over the next period until the international break because we've got a game every three or four days.

"It's really important that players coming in who haven't quite started a lot of games yet are ready, but yeah, we're in a good place."

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag should drop Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford for Monday's game with rivals Liverpool, according to Wayne Rooney.

United have made a slow start to life under Ten Hag, losing their first two games of the Premier League season, including a 4-0 humiliation at Brentford last weekend.

Much of the attention around the difficulties at Old Trafford has focused on Ronaldo, who reportedly wants to leave the club in search of Champions League football.

In his column for The Sunday Times, United's all-time top goalscorer Rooney expressed his belief that his former team-mate Ronaldo should be left out of the side, having previously said he thinks the club should agree to sell the Portugal international.

"The first priority is, against Liverpool, to just compete and have a go," he wrote. "Do that and the fans will accept it, even if United get beaten. Play like they did against Brentford, and United will suffer an even worse result than their 5-0 defeat by Liverpool last season.

"I don't expect that to happen, by the way – I can't see United winning, but I believe there'll be a reaction and they'll lose by the odd goal, or even snatch a draw.

"But I wouldn't play Cristiano Ronaldo, and I wouldn't play Marcus Rashford. If I was in Ten Hag's position my main concern would be getting energy on the pitch, and United's failure to recruit a No 9 means they relied on Ronaldo against Brentford, even though he hadn't trained a lot with the team. He looked like he needs time to get match fit.

"As for Marcus, I think he needs to do a lot of soul-searching and figure out what he wants, for his own good, before anything else. Because watching him is a real concern: he looks like he wants to be anywhere but on a football pitch. I haven't seen him smile on the field for a long time. His performances have dipped – he hasn't been selected by England for more than a year.

"I'm coming from a place of wanting the best for him. He's a lovely kid and a local lad who came through the ranks at United, who everyone wants to see doing well.

"But you look at the difference between Marcus now and when he first came into the team: the passion he showed, the smile on his face when he scored. It's night and day."

Rooney, whose D.C. United team suffered a 6-0 defeat at home to Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer on Saturday, also gave his opinion on United's impending signing of Casemiro from Real Madrid.

The Red Devils have been linked with a move for Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona throughout the transfer window, but turned their attention to the Brazil international last week, agreeing a deal in principle with the European champions for a fee of around £60million (€70.7m).

Rooney is not sure if the 30-year-old is what his former club needs, though admitted he is a talented player.

"Casemiro will not be eligible to face Liverpool, which is a pity because he will undoubtedly improve United," he wrote. "He's a good player. I've played against him and he'll bring a bit of character, a bit of work rate, but is he exactly what United need? I'm not sure.

"This goes back to the need to look to the future. Ideally, they should be signing players in their early to mid-twenties, and Casemiro is similar to Christian Eriksen – someone who has been a good player, but are they going to help the club move forward? Frenkie de Jong, Ten Hag's principal midfield target, would be a better fit.

"The Casemiro deal seems to have come from nowhere, and looks a reactive signing – I'd be surprised if he was a player identified as a priority to bring in when Ten Hag arrived. It looks like, having been unable to sign De Jong, United just reacted to Casemiro being available."

Cristian Arango will be getting treated to dinner by his Los Angeles FC team-mate Kwadwo Opoku after the latter's winner against D.C. United.

Opoku – commonly known as Mahala – came off the bench to net his sixth MLS goal of the season on Tuesday to see off Wayne Rooney's team 1-0 in California.

That brought up a seventh straight league win for LAFC, who are well on course to win The Supporters' Shield.

Mahala's goal, the 15th scored by an LAFC substitute this season, came just five minutes after he entered the fray at Banc of California Stadium, with the hosts' leading scorer Arango turning provider.

Arango could have gone for goal himself after latching onto Carlos Vela's throughball, but instead squared for Mahala, who took a touch to steady himself before slotting into an open net.

When asked about Arango's assist, Mahala told LAFC's official broadcaster KCOP 13: "That's a great one, it's a team effort, as long as the team gets the three points, that's the most important thing. I need to buy him dinner!"

As they close in on the playoffs, LAFC look well set to go on and break the MLS regular-season points record, set by the New England Revolution last year.

"For me this is the best team I've played for," said Ilie Sanchez, who had spent the previous five seasons competing at the top end of MLS with Sporting Kansas City.

"The quality that we have in our squad is so broad. Every player that is out on the field is performing, doing a great job and the coaching staff are managing the situation perfectly. We need to improve more and more towards the playoffs."

Manchester United's all-time leading scorer Wayne Rooney has advised the club to allow Cristiano Ronaldo to leave before the transfer deadline.

Portugal international Ronaldo is widely reported to be pushing for an exit from Old Trafford due to his desire to continue playing in the Champions League, though suitors have not emerged for his services.

Ronaldo missed the club's pre-season tour of Australia and the Far East due to personal reasons, with his pre-season action limited to just 45 minutes in a friendly against Rayo Vallecano last week.

In the build-up to United's Premier League opener against Brighton and Hove Albion, a lot of the talk has focused on Ronaldo's future and Rooney believes the right move would be for the club to approve an exit.

"I think United should let Cristiano Ronaldo go," he wrote in the Times.

"It's not that Ronaldo can't play in a Ten Hag team. He can play in any team. Ronny will always score you goals.

"But my personal view is that United aren't ready to challenge for the title now, so the aim has to be to build a team that can win the league in the next three to four years, and you have to plan for that.

"If the reports are true that Cristiano wants to leave the club, then United should allow him to go and get a number nine in who is going to be there for the next three or four years and really help them build a team that can be successful. Ten Hag has to be given time to do it."

New United manager Erik ten Hag insisted he is "really happy" to have Ronaldo in his squad, making it clear his preference would be for the experienced forward to remain.

"I am really happy he is here. We have a top striker. We stick to the plan," he said in a news conference.

Striker Christian Benteke has signed for D.C. United from Crystal Palace as he joins up with Wayne Rooney in MLS.

The 31-year-old has penned a two-and-a-half-year deal in the United States capital as he leaves the Premier League after 280 appearances in which he scored 86 goals.

He arrived in England 10 years ago, joining Aston Villa from Belgian side Genk before going on to score 42 times in 89 Premier League appearances for the Midlands club.

His prolific spell there earned him a big-money move to Liverpool, but he could only manage nine league goals for the Reds before making a switch to Palace in 2016.

Although he scored 15 top-flight goals in his first campaign at Selhurst Park, the Belgium international never quite recaptured his Aston Villa form and has now made the move to MLS.

D.C. United sit bottom of the Eastern Conference, with former Manchester United striker Rooney having taken over in July for the sacked Hernan Losada.

And Rooney is glad to have brought a player of Benteke's quality in, telling the club's website: "Christian is a top player who has played at the highest level for a long time.

"His experience and ability to score goals and help the team will be invaluable. It's exciting for the team and myself to get him in and playing. He will make a huge difference."

Wayne Rooney kept his belief in his DC United team as his coaching reign in MLS started in familiar fashion, with a dramatic late win over Orlando City.

Several highlights of Rooney's playing career with DC had come against Orlando.

The former England captain had five goal involvements in three meetings with Orlando, netting in both matches in 2019 – including a stunning strike from his own half.

But the most iconic moment of Rooney's MLS stint came in his first clash with the Lions in 2018.

The forward provided two assists, including a remarkable intervention to snatch a 3-2 win in the 96th minute, with Rooney tracking down a counter-attack – as Orlando's Will Johnson raced towards an open goal – and then crossing for Luciano Acosta's decisive header.

Sunday's coaching bow was similarly sensational, as DC still trailed to Junior Urso's early strike entering second-half stoppage time.

But a pair of late goals from Chris Durkin, in the 91st minute, and Taxi Fountas, in the 95th, ensured a winning start for Rooney, who had been confident the chances would come.

"I told them they'd win the game," Rooney said of his half-time message to the MLS strugglers. "I believed we'd win the game.

"But the one thing we had to do was up the tempo. We were moving the ball across the back and with the goalkeeper side to side, and it was too slow. We were allowing Orlando to shift across and not really making them run as hard as we wanted them to.

"That was the big difference second half, the tempo with which we moved the ball and really made Orlando suffer and work and run.

"When a team's doing that, then gaps appear. We have to take advantage of those gaps, and we did."

It was just the 10th instance in MLS history of a team trailing at the start of stoppage time and still winning, with DC accounting for three of those.

Rooney acknowledged the nature of the victory could be vital for confidence moving forward.

"'Character' is a big word I've used over the last couple of weeks with the team," he said. "We need to be a team which shows a lot of character and fight and togetherness."

Rooney added: "I think [it is important] for the players, more than myself. I think the players needed that.

"This season has to start now. They've had some bad results in the first half of the season, and I think tonight the fashion we won the game – coming from a goal behind, scoring two late goals, the subs who came on were excellent...

"But we've got another tough game on Wednesday. We can't rest and think we've won a game; we have to be consistent, we have to go on a run."

Wayne Rooney began his DC United reign with a dramatic comeback victory as two stoppage-time goals from his team secured a 2-1 victory over Orlando City.

The head coach watched on in a baseball cap as Chris Durkin and Taxiarchis Fountas struck late on, stunning an Orlando side who had led since the ninth minute after Junior Urso's sublime chipped finish.

Durkin fired DC level from close to the penalty spot in the first added minute after the regulation 90 was complete, finding the top-left corner with a first-time finish after meeting Ola Kamara's clever low cutback from the left wing.

A draw would have been a decent result for DC, who sit at the foot of the Eastern Conference, but it got even better as a superb goal won it. A volleyed cross from the left by Kimarni Smith was met 12 yards out by Fountas, and he deftly diverted the ball into the bottom-right corner. It was a team-leading 11th goal of the season for Fountas.

It meant that DC United won an MLS game after trailing at half-time for the first time since March 7 2020, when they did so against Inter Miami. That dismal 25-game barren run is over, with the Rooney impact already being felt.

The record goalscorer for Manchester United and England has joined DC – a team where he also had a two-season playing stint – after recently leaving English club Derby County.

Midfielder Ravel Morrison, recruited by Rooney, attempted 96 passes in the game, and that ranks as the highest total for a DC United player in MLS this season.

Orlando had not lost an away game in MLS when leading at half-time since September 22, 2019, the date they allowed a lead to slip against Houston Dynamo.

Wayne Rooney has moved to make former Manchester United midfielder Ravel Morrison his first international signing as D.C. United head coach.

Much-travelled Morrison scored four goals and assisted four more in 36 appearances playing under Rooney in the Championship last season.

A little over a week on from announcing the appointment of Rooney, who stepped down as Derby boss last month, United confirmed the arrival of free agent Morrison on Thursday.

The 29-year-old has signed for the MLS side until the end of the 2023 season, with the option of a further 12 months.

"Wayne worked closely with Ravel during his time as manager of Derby County," president of soccer operations Dave Kasper told United's official website. 

"Ravel is an incredible talent and his ability to create and score goals is impressive. 

"He has played at the highest levels during his career and his vision, creativity and ability on the ball will be a huge asset for us."

D.C. are the 13th different club of Jamaica international Morrison's career, which started in October 2010 when making his first of just three appearances for Man Utd's first team.

England women's coach Sarina Wiegman insists Ellen White deserves the same recognition as Wayne Rooney as the Lionesses' forward closes in on the national scoring record.

White was twice on target as England hammered Norway 8-0 as Wiegman's side recorded the biggest win in men's or women's European Championship history.

England also became the first team in any Euros to net eight goals as they sealed top spot and a place in the knockout stages.

While it was a successful outing in Brighton on a team level, White also moved just one strike behind Rooney's record 53 goals for England.

White was quick to insist that Rooney's benchmark is not her priority after the game, before online trolls posted unnecessary questions surrounding the validity of her record in the women's game.

Wiegman jumped to the defence of her star striker on Thursday as she spoke ahead of the group-stage clash with Northern Ireland, insisting talented ability is the same in the men's and women's game.

"I just talk to my squad and to Ellen. Everyone can have their opinion, but I think what she's done is amazing, really good," Wiegman told reporters.

"The player and person she is in our team – such an important role. What she has accomplished on the pitch and also off the pitch is really, really great, and she's so valuable for this team. So maybe I would say that to those people.

"It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman – if you're great, you're great.

"For her to have achieved that, and the success she's had over such a long time, that tells you everything you need to know.

"She's been fantastic for England for a very long time, so of course it's great to have her on my team."

White will hope to at least equal Rooney's record against Northern Ireland, who have lost all eight of their previous meetings with the Lionesses, scoring just two goals to England's 44 in the process.

New D.C. United coach Wayne Rooney hailed Luis Suarez as "incredible" but insists he will only sign "players who are hungry".

Manchester United and England great Rooney left Derby County in June, having overseen a difficult period for the club during his first job as a manager.

Everton were previously linked with their former academy product, but the 36-year-old opted to return to old club D.C. in MLS, where he played in 2018 and 2019.

D.C have been linked with a plethora of potential signings after their big-name appointment, with former Liverpool and Barcelona forward Suarez among those.

Suarez is a free agent after ending a two-season stay at Atletico Madrid, where he won the LaLiga title in the 2020-21 campaign, and reportedly wants to build-up his fitness for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.

While Rooney refused to rule out a move for the striker, he suggested he is searching for a specific identity of player that Suarez may not fit.

"I respect Luis Suarez a lot," said Rooney. "I think as a player, he's an incredible player.

"I want players who are hungry, I want players to come to this club to be hungry and want to play for this club but also have a lot to give and are capable of playing every game, training every training session.

"We're working extremely hard to identify the right profile of players we're trying to bring in."

Rooney will take his first game in charge of D.C., who are 13th in the Eastern Conference after just five wins in 17 games, when Columbus Crew visit on Thursday.

Wayne Rooney hit out at criticism of his move to the United States, after he was announced as D.C. United's new head coach on Tuesday.

Rooney had previously played for United in 2018 and 2019 before leaving the franchise to join Derby County as a player coach in the Championship.

The 36-year-old kept Derby up after taking over from Phillip Cocu as permanent manager in January 2021 but relegation still loomed, remarkably finishing seven points from safety after a 21-point deduction at the start of last season.

Rooney believes coming back to the MLS to coach is not a backward step, but moreover, that his time at Derby County prepared him for this role.

"I've seen a few articles, certainly back in England, on this being a possible backward step in my managerial career," he said.

"I really find that a bit disrespectful to this league. I feel the experience I've gained at Derby County over the past 18 months has been great for my development as a coach, as a manager.

"To come here back to the MLS, back to D.C. United, was an exciting challenge for me - something which I feel can develop me as a coach."

United face an uphill battle to make the MLS playoffs, sitting nine points from seventh-placed FC Cincinnati in the Eastern Conference, despite two games in hand.

The four-time MLS Cup winners have been without a head coach since April and interim Chad Ashton's tenure reached a nadir last weekend, following a 7-0 defeat to Philadelphia Union.

Ashton will remain in charge until Rooney receives his work visa, but Rooney believes he is more than suited for the task at hand.

"The team need to improve, I think that's obvious for everyone to see," he said. "I really think with my capabilities of developing young players - of course we're working hard to get a few new players in - we can really get this club to successful ways again.

"I'm an ambitious person. One day I want to manage at the top level, and this is part of that process in terms of coming here and trying to develop this club, trying to get success here, but also develop myself as a manager."

D.C. United have confirmed the appointment of Wayne Rooney as the club's new head coach.

It is a swift return to management for Rooney, who left his post at Championship side Derby County last month.

England and Manchester United's record goalscorer is back with the MLS franchise, for whom he played in 2018 and 2019; netting 23 times in 48 games across all competitions.

Although unable to keep Derby in the Championship - largely due to a 21-point deduction at the start of the season after breaching financial regulations - Rooney received widespread praise for his efforts during a difficult campaign at Pride Park.

Now set for his second managerial spell in quick succession, the 36-year-old will replace interim head coach Chad Ashton upon receiving his work visa.

"Wayne is a soccer legend and one of the most exciting and dynamic up-and-coming managers in our sport," said D.C. co-chairmen Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan in a joint statement.

"He's already proven in his young coaching career that he knows how to lead a group through adversity. He has an understanding of our league and what it takes to be successful in Major League Soccer thanks to his two-year stay with us as a player.

"The passion he showed while wearing black and red electrified our city and our club, and we are so excited to welcome him back as our head coach."