As Wayne Rooney is unveiled as the new head coach of DC United, it’s hard to escape the echoes of when he rode to the club’s rescue four years ago.
Back then, Rooney the 32-year-old player helped propel a struggling side into the MLS Play-offs against all odds, showing in his performances that class is very much permanent.
He’d still been banging in the goals for Manchester United and Everton a few months earlier and there were certainly some memorable moments, not least when he scored from inside his own half against Orlando City.
Wayne Rooney has become the coach of MLS side DC United – four years after he arrived at the Washington-based club as a player
The former England captain touched down at Dulles Airport in Washington on Sunday night as he prepared to finalise his deal to take charge of the MLS club
Now he’s back in the American capital to sign a $1million-a-year contract and take over as their coach – with DC United’s situation equally as bleak.
Having won just five of their 17 matches this season, they sit second bottom of the Eastern Conference with everything to do in order to make the post-season.
The 7-0 beating they took at Philadelphia on Friday was the heaviest loss they have suffered in their entire history.
And while they’re not quite at the levels of existential crisis seen at Derby County during Rooney’s coaching stint there, there is an awful lot of room for improvement.
Rooney’s decision to return to Audi Field will raise plenty of eyebrows.
It wasn’t too long ago that he was being linked with the Everton job and there would have been offers forthcoming once Championship clubs began to panic following shaky starts to the season.
Rooney poses in front of the US Capitol during his time as a DC United player back in 2018
Wayne and Coleen pose for a photograph in front of the Washington Monument back in 2018
The Rooney family were relatively anonymous in Washington but Coleen struggled to settle
He’d also been a galvanising presence amid the off-field turmoil at Derby and they would have been sorry to see him depart as they confront life in League One.
Then there’s the family aspect. While the Rooneys no doubt enjoyed the relative anonymity they enjoyed in Washington, Coleen struggled to settle into her new life stateside.
It emerged during the Wagatha Christie feud earlier this year that she described the city as ‘not the best’ and ‘quite behind the UK’ in texts to Rebekah Vardy back in 2018.
‘Nice…