Everton complete Wayne Rooney transfer as Manchester United club captain returns to boyhood club

Wayne Rooney has completed his move to Everton from Manchester United.

The 31-year-old has put pen to paper on a two-year deal to become the Toffees sixth summer signing and bring the curtain down on a glittering career at Old Trafford.

As exclusively revealed by The Independent in March it has always been Rooney's first choice to return to his boyhood club, whom he left as an 18-year-old in 2004, with the Toffees offering a financial package of around £150,000 per week and United waiving a transfer fee.

And Rooney, speaking for the first time after returning to Goodison Park, is over the moon to be back at the club where it all started.

“(Winning trophies with Everton) would be the pinnacle. I really feel now the club is moving in the right direction, bringing the right calibre of players in. I want to be part of it and hopefully part of a successful Everton team," he told the club's official website.

“It’s a great feeling to be back. I’m excited, I cannot wait to meet the lads, get on the training pitch and then get on the pitch to play. I’m ecstatic – I just cannot wait to get back playing.

“I’m excited, and I’m excited by the signings that the club have made. This club is moving forward. This football club should be winning trophies and we’re taking huge steps to being involved and trying to win trophies.

“The first game back will be an emotional day for me and I’m looking forward to it. I’m not just coming back because it’s the team I support, the team I grew up playing for - I’m coming back because I feel the club can move forward and be successful. I want to be part of it. There will be pressure on me to perform, but I’m ready to go. I believe I can help move this club forward and be more successful on the pitch.

“With the new stadium in the pipeline, it’s an exciting time to be an Everton player, to be an Everton fan. It’s on us players to make those times even more exciting by giving them good performances and try to help them be successful and bring trophies to the club.”

The move comes as Romelu Lukaku prepares to go the other way after the two clubs finally agreed a fee understood to be in the region of £75million.

While Rooney's own transfer wasn't specifically linked it is understood it has been crucial in the overall smoothness of the negotiations between the parties, unlike Chelsea’s own talks with Everton for the Belgian.

England captain Rooney fell out of favour under Jose Mourinho at United this season before losing his place in Gareth Southgate’s international squad as well prompting him to assess his options this summer.

United would have been willing to let Rooney go to the Chinese Super League at the end of February but, as reported by The Independent at the time, the 31-year-old still felt he had more to offer at Premier League level and was also determined to ensure he was in the England team for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

That would have been almost impossible, had he made the move to China, and it is also understood Rooney’s representatives were put off by the standard of football there.

The Independent has since learned that a prospective offer from Everton was also greatly playing on the player’s mind, and that the Merseyside club have been investigating a move “for a few months”.

Everton’s offer marks a considerable paycut given Rooney currently earns around double, but it is believed he is willing to accept the offer such is the pull of his former club.

Rooney joins Michael Keane, Jordan Pickford, Davy Klaassen, Sandro Ramirez and Henry Onyekuru as part of an extensive summer recruitment drive on the blue half of Merseyside.