It could end in tears, Wayne

WAYNE ROONEY'S career has been a lot like a movie: fantasy, heartbreak, Hollywood passes and now, he hopes, a feel good Hollywood ending.
Why then do many critics fear that his return to his Everton roots could end in tears?
It's because, like someone said of Britain, he's lost an empire and been unable to find a role. In the 13 years since he arrived at Manchester United with the world at his feet, the world has changed – and he has changed.
He may rage against the dying of the light, but he cannot be sure of starting a game, let alone his position. Whether it is as a No.10 or an out and out striker, there's fierce competition for places at the new Everton Ronald Koeman is building.
But besides the likes of Sandro Ramirez, Davy Klaessen, Ross Barkley, Tom Davies, Ademola Lookman and possible recruits, Olivier Giroud and Gylfi Sigurdsson, it is Rooney himself that raises the biggest doubts.
The harsh truth is that he's been a fading force for the past three seasons with both club and country. Once his legs began to go, he encouraged his managers to play him deeper where, they imagined, his football brain would compensate for the slowing brawn.
Playing more on reputation than performance, it did not happen. The occasional "Hollywood pass" apart, he did not dictate as a No.10 should. Nor did he score many goals.
Both Louis van Gaal and Roy Hodgson made him captain and although he was the eminence grise for United and England, his authority was not matched by his form.
His flop at the 2016 Euros capped a sorry saga of failures at major tournaments since he burst onto the scene at the 2004 Euros like a meteorite – until his metatarsal went.
Even the normally decisive Jose Mourinho didn't seem sure where to play him when he took over United, saying: "You can tell me his passes are amazing - yes, they are amazing, but my passes are also amazing without pressure.
"There are many players with a great pass," he continued, "but there aren't as many players who can put the ball in the net. For me he will be a [number] 9, a 10, or a 9-and-a-half, but not a 6 or even an 8."
If that felt like damning Rooney with faint praise, it was in marked contrast to the strenuous efforts the Portuguese had made to bring him to Chelsea a year earlier. Above all else, what it showed was the speed of Rooney's decline.
Last season, even a self-confessed fan like Mourinho could not find him a starting role for much of a draining and elongated campaign. Nor did he put up much resistance to the idea of losing him.
United have done the decent thing by waiving a fee to facilitate a return to his spiritual home – which is the least they could do for their record goal scorer. But you sense that not many tears are being shed at Old Trafford or in the Devils' diasporas.
Besides the unanimity that as a top-level player Rooney's race is well and truly run, affection for the greatest English footballer of the millennium and United legend is lukewarm.
Partly because he could be his own worst enemy in public relations, partly because he's a Scouser in Manc land and partly because he twice tried to leave, he's not felt the warmth that other greats have.
The likes of the Holy Trinity, Ryan Giggs and Eric Cantona are all held in greater awe and affection yet he eclipsed all in goals scored while only Giggs has more silverware.
For a non-United fan, the coolness seems harsh for his 13-year stay saw five League titles, one Champions League trophy, one FA Cup, three League Cups, one Europa League and one World Club Cup.
It is to be hoped that the welcome Goodison affords him makes up for this although he did upset more than a few Evertonians by deserting them in the first place.
But his so-called mercenary tendencies ought to be seen in a different light now. Not only is he foregoing half his salary to join his boyhood club, he is turning down three or even four times the fortune United were paying him by not going to China.
By putting his family and love for Everton – he confided he wears Everton pyjamas as do his three boys – before another crock of gold, he has shown that greed is not his raison d'etre. Nor was it ever. As Alan Shearer once insisted: "He just loves football – he'd play for £50."
Of course as a multi-millionaire, he can afford to take a big cut in salary, but no one can deny where his heart is. But the question is: can he and Everton engineer the farewell he really wants?
The Toffees have set the pace this summer, buying more players than any other club as they seek to close the gap with the Big Six. But Michael Keane, Jordan Pickford, Ramirez and Klaessen were not names on the wanted lists of the half dozen clubs Everton seek to join.
Still, you see can't see Rooney starting many matches of what will be a Europa League-extended season. You can, however, see him coming off the bench to hold the ball, give the team a bit of European savvy and maybe make a Hollywood pass or two.
Koeman is no mug and will not have bought Rooney purely for sentimental reasons. He will expect him to be a big influence in the dressing room and on the training ground – Everton have a few promising kids who will look up to him.
But as all concerned will only be too well aware, this is the harsh reality of the top end of the toughest league in the world. We've already had one fairytale and the chances of another – even of Everton reaching the top four – are not something to risk the mortgage on. We wish Rooney well but better have the hankies ready.