Prospective Derby County owner has suggested that he would be wanting to keep Wayne Rooney as the manager of the club should he manage to conclude a successful takeover of the club.

The Rams are thought to be closing in on securing a takeover, which would see Alonso take ownership of the club and it has been reported by Sky Sports that they could complete the takeover by the end of next week. That would bring an end a lot of uncertainty around the club that has been there ever since a takeover involving Sheikh Khaled fell through.

It has also been reported that the new prospective owner would view Wayne Rooney as the right manager to lead the club going forwards into next campaign and beyond. That is something that will be needed for the club to maintain some stability. If he is to remain with the club then he will need to be backed in the summer window with the right signings to take the club forward.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Alonso insisted that he would not make a change in the managerial department and that Rooney would be the choice to lead the club forward. While he also suggested that he will also look to keep on board the club’s chief executive Stephen Pearce.

He said: "First of all we have to be realistic and stay in the Championship this season. We can't think further than that. Let's go step by step. After we reach that objective we will speak with (chief executive) Stephen (Pearce) and Wayne and set up the next season.

"Next season we will be fighting for the play-offs and the promotion to the Premier League. Why not?

"We will not change Wayne. He has all my support. He is a very good coach and a very good person. He is learning with us and we are learning from him. (And) Stephen is a good person and professional man and he has all my support. He will be with us for sure.”

The verdict

This is an encouraging message and shows that the new prospective owner is not wanting to make too many radical changes within the Rams’ current set-up. Keeping Rooney as manager seems like a sensible thing to do as he is getting up to speed and it will be up to the Englishman to get results and prove that is the right manager for the long-term at Derby.

Rooney will be wanting to see the new owners invest in the squad so that he can have the right sort of tools to help guide them to a top-six challenge. It might take a sizeable but wise sort of investment in the transfer market for them to be able to challenge for promotion next campaign as they will need to address key areas of the squad.

To that end, Alonso has also suggested in his interview with Sky Sports that he would be prepared to spend money to help get the Rams promoted to the Premier League. Therefore, it seems that Rooney could well be handed the right sort of tools to get the club challenging more closely for promotion next term. Although with a good transfer budget would also come pressure for results.