Retired soccer player and former DC United manager Wayne Rooney revealed that he rejected an offer to coach in the Saudi Pro League before accepting his new role as manager of Birmingham City FC. Current Birmingham chief executive Garry Cook revealed that, when he was the CEO of the Saudi League, he attempted to lure Rooney but to no avail.
“I think for myself, firstly to get back into English football is great. It’s what I’ve wanted to do,” Rooney explained. “I’ve had opportunities over the last four to six weeks at other clubs as well, but since speaking to Birmingham, it was a really easy decision. I want to be successful; it’s clear this club wants to be successful; and everything we spoke about was very similar,” the Birmingham manager said of his new job.
This comes after Rooney parted ways with DC United last week after the MLS team was eliminated from MLS playoff contention.
