Wayne Rooney not ready to quit if takeover deal fails

Wayne Rooney insists he will not stand down as Derby manager even if the protracted takeover of the club collapses.

The Rams agreed a deal to sell the club to Abu Dhabi billionaire Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan’s Derventio Holdings in November.

There is a legally binding agreement between the two parties but two months on, the takeover is yet to materialise according to skysports

Derby are under a transfer embargo as players were not paid their full wages in December, meaning Rooney is unable to strengthen his squad during this month’s transfer window.

“Ideally, I want players in. We need that. But if we can’t I believe in the quality of the players we’ve got here.

“With the takeover and the salary situation, it’s difficult for players, and it’s difficult for me in that I can’t go into the transfer market at the moment.

“Ideally, the quicker the players get paid, the quicker we can move on. Then we can look at players we want to bring in.”

Rooney ended his playing career and signed a two-and-half-year contract to become Derby manager on a permanent basis last week.

He had been working as player-manager on an interim basis since Phillip Cocu was sacked in November.

Rooney says he believes the takeover is still set to happen, saying: “As far as I’m aware, it’s still trying to be done.

“My understanding is that all the paperwork was signed and we were waiting for it to happen.”