Wayne Rooney has admitted to using the video game Football Manager as a means of helping him discover players to sign for D.C United....CONTINUE READING
Many avid Football Manager players are guilty of absorbing the majority of their football knowledge from the game itself, owing to the game’s extraordinary research and knowledge of leagues all around the world.
Sports Interactive, the makers of the game, are especially renowned for discovering wonder kids and it seems Rooney is hoping he’ll be able to identify one of these promising youngsters himself.
Speaking to The Times, Rooney admitted that Football Manager’s comprehensive player database has proved useful to him and his staff.
“A lot of the market is South America and we’ve done a deal with Football Manager, where we give them some advertising and they give us access to the scouts 11 or 12 of them they use in different places across the world to help them create the game,” he explained.
“Jose Mourinho has done something similar in the past.” This makes more logical sense when you consider that all MLS teams are allowed a ‘Discovery List’ of players each year.
What is the ‘Discovery List’ exactly? Essentially, clubs are allowed to name seven players that are currently outside of the MLS.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be an unknown player, it just means that the club has ‘first dibs’ on these stars.
In the event one of these players signs for another team in the MLS, they must pay the club who had them on their ‘Discovery List’ a fee.
As Rooney pointed out: “We could put Haaland on our ‘Discovery List’ and it means that if he ever came to the MLS but let’s say he wanted to play for one of the LA teams and not us, the LA team would have to pay Man City – and us. Because we’ve ‘discovered’ him! It’s crazy.”
Because of this, DC United placed Jesse Lingard on their Discovery List last year, after predicting that he may fancy a move to the MLS.
Lingard was released by Nottingham Forest this summer and has been linked with a move to the US. If it happens, D.C United could be set to profit.
“But if you’re clever, you can make money,” Rooney said.
“Last year when Jesse Lingard signed for a year with [Nottingham] Forest we put him on our Discovery List because you thought there’s every chance that after a year at Forest, he’ll want to come to the US and that would mean we could sign him or get money for him.”
Rooney spent two seasons playing for D.C United at the end of his career and has now been tasked with turning around the club’s fortunes.
When he took over at the end of last season, the team sat bottom but are currently ninth in the MLS Eastern Conference.
While the likes of Inter Miami have recently acquired both Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets, Rooney is relying more on savvy signings.
Former Premier League players Mateusz Klich and Lewis O’Brien have both been brought in, alongside ex-Aston Villa and Liverpool star Christian Benteke.
The Belgian has netted so far this season, proving that he can still be clinical in front of goal.
D.C are still someway off the leading pack in the MLS but under the guidance of Rooney and with the help of the Football Manager, it seems they’re trending in the right direction….READFULL
