Rooney to Sign with MLS?!

MLS has been busy during this summer’s transfer window, bringing in some big names to bolster the league’s popularity both domestically and abroad. First a Frenchman named Henry joined the league, shortly followed by his Barcelona teammate and Mexican captain Marquez. Now we learn that MLS is ready to unveil its biggest name yet… An Englishman named Rooney!

Seriously?!  YES!  Wayne Rooney?!  Ahem… not exactly…

But how about Wayne‘s little brother, John Rooney! The 19-year old has played for Macclesfield Town in England’s League Two, and trialed last year with Derby County. The lesser known Rooney is on trial with the Seattle Sounders, the same club that made a splash last year by signing Freddie Ljungberg and Kasey Keller. After a promising start last season, Ljungberg fell out of favor with management this year and was traded to Chicago last month.  Now Seattle aims to go after pedigree, rather than experience. Or perhaps they’re aligning the chess pieces to sign England’s #10 after the 2022 World Cup.  Now that’s long term planning.

Can Rooney make the club?  Who knows?  If anyone has ever seen John Rooney play, please post a comment to this article. We would love to know if he has any of the speed, power, or temperament of his older brother!

MLS has made a hobby of signing “almost” superstars.  Here is a short list of some of the other “Oh no they didn’t!… No, actually they didn’t” moments in MLS history:

July 2010 — Fresh off the World Cup in South Africa, Brazilian “Maicon” signs with FC Toronto. Oops… Not that Maicon… the Maicon with hair… Maicon Santos of Brazilian club Bonsucesso.

May 2010 — Beasley returns to MLS.  Not DaMarcus… Older brother Jamar, who in 1998 was the youngest player to ever sign with MLS. A record that has since been broken more times than brother DaMarcus‘s toes, ankles, and pride during his stint in the Scottish Premier League.

April 2007 — Brazilian “Fred” debuts for DC United.  Not National Team starter Fred, but Australian League top scorer Fred. Along with Freddy Adu, DC United assembles a line-up with the most underachieving “Freds” in the history of the beautiful game. Ole!

September 2007 — Brazilian 2002 World Cup Champion Denilson debuts for FC Dallas.  Yes, the real Denilson! Just one problem…  The REAL Denilson stopped playing REAL football when he left Real Betis in 2005. This Denilson stands around, whines, and doesn’t score. Dallas chooses not to re-sign him in 2008, and he promptly returned to Brazil to disappoint fans of club Palmeiras. 2009-2010 finds Denilson stealing money from a Vietnamese club (playing one game) before landing with Greek club AO Kavala, where he is released before ever playing a minute, sending the Greek economy into a bottomless abyss from which it has not yet emerged. Thank you, Denilson.

Graham and John Rooney (rt): "F off... sure our big bro bought us these designer t-shirts, but we're coming to America to kick Landon Donovan's @ss!"

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We at Footy Factor would like to thank Andy Taylor from Washington DC for submitting this article.