Dubai

While Wayne Rooney’s return to his boyhood club Everton is an admission that his career is wrapping up with things having gone full circle, it’s also a sign that there could be a bit more to come before it flatlines.

If the flailing 31-year-old had truly believed there was nothing left in the tank he could have opted for a more lucrative and easier ride in China or the US.

But by going to Everton (for two years on a free transfer) he’s kept himself in the line of fire at a level of football that will neither be the most glamorous, profitable nor the easiest of his three options.

He’s taken a 50 per cent pay cut on his £300,000 (Dh1.42 million) a week salary at Old Trafford to rejoin the Toffees, and while I’m not suggesting we fear for his bank balance, his return to Everton should be viewed for what it is: a commendable homecoming done out of love, something that’s becoming rare in today’s modern football. Especially when he could have reportedly got double that in Asia.

Choosing Everton also keeps him in the running for an England recall, where he’s only seven games away from overtaking Peter Shilton as his country’s all-time most capped player, having already pipped Bobby Charlton to the Three Lions most goals tally in September 2015.

When a move is made for the right reasons, i.e. ambition, sentiment and the need to prove a point, you would have to agree that it will be successful, so for that reason we can probably expect a bit of a renaissance from Rooney.

Rightly or wrongly, we’ve been a bit harsh on him, his record may be impressive but he’s never seemed to fulfil expectation when it counts. The view has been that he was overused earlier in his career — having debuted for Everton at 16 — and has now long been a spent force with a penchant for partying.

But with this move he should be cut a bit of slack and maybe it might help him to step down, re-evaluate and go again at an ambitious and relevant club where he’s comfortable with the surroundings and familiar with the fans.

Many will view Rooney as just an impact substitute upon his return to Goodison, with the club taking him back just to increase shirt sales and social media followers, but there’s every chance that it could be a lot more than that.

He’s never going to fill the void left by Romelu Lukaku, who netted 25 league goals last season, and has now gone the other way in exchange to Man United for £75 million. But when there’s been a bit of injustice and someone doesn’t want to bow out on their current reputation, things usually correct themselves.