Wayne Rooney has the potential to become a future Manchester United manager, according to Andy Hinchcliffe.

The former striker was only confirmed as Derby County manager last week after taking the role on an interim basis at the back end of last year.

While the Rams are in a lowly position in the league there's a real feeling that Rooney has turned things round at the club as they start to look up the table rather than over their shoulders.

But despite his complete lack of experience in the role Hinchcliffe believes that Rooney has what it takes to go back to the club where he was such a success as a player to become the main man in the dugout in the future.

Can you name each of these 17 ex-Derby County players just by looking at these 3 clues?

 

Speaking on the Sky Sports EFL Podcast, Hinchcliffe said: "It was always going to happen because he’s talked about how he wanted to go into coaching and managing and do it with Derby.

“The way that results have gone he deserves this opportunity.

“The stories that we’ve heard from Steve McClaren about how Rooney has started his managerial career, very maturely, bodes very well.

“If this carries on and he’s successful then I wouldn’t be surprised if Manchester United look at him as a potential future head coach.

“Good luck to him, he’s had an amazing career and it looks like he’s on the right lines with his coaching and managing as well.”

The Verdict

While there's nothing to say that this won't happen it's very early days for Wayne Rooney.

The Derby boss will have to do a lot of things right to be in a position to get the job with Manchester United - something that will be tough given the tricky position that the Rams are in.

Never say never, but certainly not for a good few years.