Wayne Rooney says that the "sad" end to his one-season encore at Everton came without owner Farhad Moshiri bothering to tell him what was going on, and that the first he heard of his move to DC United in Washington was when he read about it in the newspaper.

Rooney, English football's record international goalscorer and most celebrated hair transplant pioneer, had hoped to help Everton to their first piece of silverware since 1995, but after a bright start he faded and was left searching for answers when speculation mounted about his imminent exit.

"I was made aware of interest from DC and an article in the newspaper about it and I started to think: 'What's going on here? Is there something being said?'

"So I went in to see Sam Allardyce and said: 'Listen, I'm not a kid. What's going on? Do you want me here or not?' To be fair to Sam he was probably the honest one. He said if he was still there next season I mightn't play as much but he still wanted me to be here and be a big part of things. Then he said: 'But I'm not sure the owner has the same opinion'.

"Trying to get an honest answer out of the owner took three months. All I wanted was clarity. There were some positives: my four children seeing me play for Everton. Even though my youngest two won't remember, we still have the pictures to look back on when they're older of me at Goodison. But I was just left a bit sad."

Rooney also recalled a time when his former Manchester United teammate Memphis Depay was told to play with the reserves by Louis Van Gaal as a reprimand for a mistake which cost United a goal against Stoke City. Rooney suggested Depay avoid looking too flashy, so Depay turned up for the game against Altrincham wearing a bright red leather jacket and cowboy hat combo and driving a Rolls Royce.