DC United: Overpaid Wayne Rooney ideally pays for himself

DC United are apparently ready to overpay the hell out of Wayne Rooney in an effort to bring him to MLS, but is this as daft a move as it seems?

Wayne Rooney, who stands as the most prolific English talent of the past decade, is supposedly gearing up for a move to DC United in MLS. Which is interesting, exciting, odd, and, to be honest, kind of humorous.

MLS’s longest running criticism is that it was a retirement home for formerly top-tier European talent. While Steven Gerrard kindly squashed those rumors with his move to MLS, they hung around regardless. Even now, with this negative stigma clearly not being the case, there still exists those few who mock it for what it isn’t.

As such, Rooney’s pending arrival is already a question mark. However, he is certainly a hard-working player who isn’t going to coast on by without putting in the work.

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That said, is he worth being paid the most in MLS? Absolutely not. Reports indicate he will be paid between $5 and $8 million by DC United, who have struggled to regain the power they boasted in the earlier days of MLS.

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Wayne Rooney is not worth that much money on the pitch. He just isn’t. But as was the case when MLS was loading up on noteworthy, yet over-the-hill talent, while he may not be worth it on the pitch, he is certainly going to bring a killing in merchandising, as he is without a doubt one of the most recognizable players in the world of soccer.

It’s a lot like what New York City FC did with Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo. While they never caught on all that much on the pitch, the shops were packed with merchandise pertaining to these two men. They were living legends, even if they weren’t so legendary anymore.

Rooney is the same general concept. DC United don’t have a lot of high-profile players on their team, and with a new stadium about to be opened, they could do with a bit of star power. Wayne Rooney is nothing if not star power.

In that sense, while yes, it is a crap ton of money to pay someone just to be a figurehead, that price becomes a heck of a lot manageable when you consider how much money he will bring in on his own, through shirt sales, as well as all the other nick-nacks they can think up.

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There are positives to this move, for DC United, and while it may not be entirely on the pitch, it could, in the long-run, help them there.