Blackburn Rovers' Wayne Rooney stance clear as Man United legend linked to new job

Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney has been out of work as a manager since being sacked by Plymouth Argyle on New Year's Eve

Blackburn Rovers' head of football operations Rudy Gestede has confirmed that his club are not considering the appointment of Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney in the summer.

Last week, talkSPORT reported that patience was wearing thin at Ewood Park with manager Valerien Ismael after he succeeded John Eustace in Lancashire. He managed to secure Blackburn's first victory under his leadership on his eighth attempt, a run of form which severely dampened Rovers' hopes of reaching the play-offs.

It was claimed that if Blackburn were to sack Ismael, Rooney would be a candidate to replace him. Since then, Rovers have beaten two play-off rivals over Easter in Millwall and Sunderland and they now remain in with an outside chance of finishing in the top six.

Gestede appeared on the latest episode of Footy Accumulators' No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, he was asked about the links to Rooney. In a bid to dispel the rumours, the 36-year-old replied: "We cannot control the media.

"That’s their job to try to give information around. I don’t know if it’s from an agent or Wayne Rooney himself, I don’t think so, but you never know.

"It’s never been the plan. We are happy with Valerien, we want to give him time. We chose him because of the project, and it doesn’t make any sense to make a decision now.

"Valerien has just started, and we have been losing games, and the media said we were losing games because he had his hands in his pocket and he wasn’t showing emotions, and that’s why the players weren’t performing at their best.

"Now we are winning games, he still has his hands in his pockets, so what can they say about this now?" For Rooney, this is likely to be a blow considering his desire to remain active in football.

His previous job at Plymouth Argyle ended on New Year's Eve when he was sacked with the club languishing in the relegation zone. Since then, Rooney has turned his attention to punditry while between jobs.

The United icon has appeared on Match of the Day, Sky Sports' Overlap and Amazon Prime's Champions League coverage. However, there is a sense that Rooney still has a desire to manage.

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