Yes, I know that’s an emotive headline, but lets face it, you have probably heard these stories already so you were never going to be fooled into thinking that Rooney was re-signing for the Toffees were you?
It’s been reported by the man himself that Wayne Rooney will return to Goodison Park to take part in the testimonial for Duncan Ferguson (?!) on Sunday 2nd August, which is nice for him to do for someone who has clearly become a friend to him. The easy option would have been to not take part but maybe watch from the stands as he had before but he will put the blue shirt on.. actually he could play for Villareal I guess. That would be quite funny. Imagine the boo-ing then from the crowd.
Couple of things – firstly why put Villareal up against Ferguson, who we famously lost to when his goal was disallowed. Seems almost cruel. Saying that why has Ferguson been given a testimonial so long after leaving the club – a club that he left halfway through even if he was sold against his will? Seems odd. Never mind though, the return of Rooney will no doubt get more bums on seats for the match and get more money for the chosen charity (assuming there is one).
It’ll be interesting to see how the crowd are with Rooney to be fair. Hopefully he’ll get a couple of comedy booos but then be left to enjoy his 5 minutes on the pitch. Social media has told me that for all the furious Blues out there that don’t want him anywhere near the ground there will be another 20,000 wishing him well and just enjoying the day. I have no real axe to grind any more and will be in the latter camp. I felt angry for a long time as he left us and I thought he was great. That’s just me though.
As for John Stones: reports in the press, who are desperate for us to let Stones wander in a daze into the wild and be rescued by one of the ‘top’ clubs, suggest that firstly Chelsea will be coming back with a bid between £26m and £34m and secondly that Stones actually wants to go to Chelsea.
Let us make something clear I guess. If Stones fancies going I would not be surprised at all. The chance to move to a team in London that are playing CL football and to be able to learn alongside one of the meanest defences in Europe for loads more money? Blimey. His chances of playing for England would shoot up once he dislodged Cahill or Terry, and whilst he may play consistently for Everton you get the feeling that lads like Smalling or Jones will be preferred as they have more experience in ‘big games’.
The ideal for us would be to keep him another season but, if Chelsea want him now, we should put the selling price at around £40m at least and ride it out like the other lot did with Sterling. There is stupid money out there. Lets use it to buy a replacement and then spend the rest on a feasibility study on a new stadium or something. Now that would be depressing. Anyway, if Stones does go (and he’s a Yorkshire lad, not a Walton local born and bred) we’ll dust ourselves down, buy a replacement and move on.
Up the Toffees.
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