Sam Allardyce: Wayne Rooney’s future with England is in the hands of new Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho
Three Lions boss says he will determine where nation's record goalscorer will play depending on United position
WAYNE ROONEY’S future with England is in the hands of Jose Mourinho.
New Three Lions boss Sam Allardyce refused to say whether he would make Roo his skipper — and also cancelled a proposed September 1 friendly with Croatia.
But Big Sam will wait to see where Mourinho plays Rooney for Manchester United before making his own decision on what role he has with England.
Allardyce stressed: “I think Jose will determine that. If Jose says he is not going to play him in centre-midfield and he is playing up front and scoring goals for Manchester United then it would be pointless me bringing him into England and playing him in centre-midfield.”
Rooney, 30, is England’s all–time record scorer with 53 goals.
But Roy Hodgson played him in midfield during the disastrous Euro 2016 finals campaign.
Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Daniel Sturridge and Marcus Rashford featured up front in France.
Rooney has spoken about playing in the No 10 role for United.
SunSport understands the Scouser is still Allardyce’s preferred choice as skipper, subject to fitness and form.
But he will gather his squad together first and assess those available before announcing his decision.
Allardyce said: “I don’t want to put myself out in the open just yet.
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“It’s a decision that I’ll make once I’ve got my feet under the table and I meet the players.
“I still think Wayne Rooney has a massive part to play in the England side.
“I don’t think there is any doubt about that.
“But I don’t know what will happen with anybody, let alone Wayne Rooney.
“There is a massive problem for the top clubs with the England players because they will only just be joining their clubs and will barely be back to full fitness.
“So it’s a difficult period for me — they will have had such a long season, very little time off and are now travelling across far corners of the world.
“The first selection will be very difficult in terms of who is fully fit.”
Allardyce will take the gamble of making his first match in charge the September 4 World Cup qualifier in Slovakia rather than play a friendly game against Croatia at Wembley.
The new boss wants to spend a week getting to know his players rather than thrust them into match action.
Allardyce has also asked the FA to push for a mid-season break.
But FA chief executive Martin Glenn has made it clear that cannot happen until a new Premier League TV deal comes into force at the start of the 2019-20 campaign.