Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes that Wayne Rooney's contract at Derby County is unlikely to be contributing heavily to the club's financial woes.

The Rams are in a tricky position with after a club statement revealed the EFL had won an appeal against the Rams who were found guilty of breaching Financial Fair Play regulation with regards to their amortisation policy.

Derby were originally cleared of the charge which related to the club's valuation of their playing staff, however the EFL were unhappy with the outcome given that the act reportedly saw up to £30million of losses wiped from the financial record.

As a result the club are awaiting potential sanctions sanctions which could include a hefty fine or even a points deduction.

Given Rooney's high-profile arrival at the club question marks have been raised over the deal to bring him in and the weighty salary that he could potentially be on as manager, but according to Maguire, the ex-Manchester United man's salary is unlikely to be much greater than other bosses in the Championship.

Speaking on The Price Of Football Podcast, Maguire said: “Wayne Rooney did have a sort of player-coach contract. Now, presumably, when he became a manager, that contract was annulled when he [retired] as a player, and that was replaced with an alternative contract.

“Wages have increased by 120% over the decade, so even if Wayne Rooney [were] just on an average contract as a Derby player, he would have still been bringing in a large sum of money.

“Remember, he was wearing the number 32 shirt as part of a deal with sponsors 32 Red, so that would have been an enhancement.

“In terms of his contract as a manager, I suspect, like many other Championship managers, it will be on a relatively low sum.

“I don’t think [he] will be on necessarily more or less than some others. It will be highly incentivised towards promotion."

The verdict

Thankfully Wayne Rooney's position as manager sounds unlikely to be impacted by the club's financial issues.

Derby County are in a real mess at the moment and it seems like there's a lot of work to do if they're going to rectify the situation before the new season.

The Rams are hoping that a takeover deal can still be completed, but given the situation that they find themselves in at the moment it seems like any agreement with any party is still some way off.

What this means for next term remains to be seen, but what we do know is that supporters will surely be worried.