Everton manager Marco Silva has opened the door for Wayne Rooney to stay beyond the summer. The former England international has strongly been linked with a move to DC United but so far, the MLS club have yet to sort out a transfer fee with the Toffees. As such, Silva is open to working alongside Rooney next term and suggests he wants a team with youth and experience.

He said: “It is always good when you have this balance. Some experience, some young players, some fresh players as well but I cannot tell you if the squad is too old or not - it's not fair for me.For me, in football you don't have age. If an 18-year-old player is better than the other or deserves to play more than the other then he will play more than the one who is 29 or 30. But it is not fair to the player who is 32, 33 if he is better than the other if I don't play him because he is 32, 33.”

Rooney made an emotional comeback with the Toffees last summer after a glorious 13-year stint with Manchester United and he made a fantastic league debut by scoring in a 1-0 win over Stoke City. Rooney continued to score nine more goals during the first half of the campaign but he could not replicate the results in the backend where he struggled for form under Sam Allardyce.

With this in mind, there has been the talk that he may be regressing further but the experience he brings to the field would nevertheless be priceless for the Merseyside outfit. As things stand, Silva has yet to make any signing for the club but there is expected to be movement in the coming days with a number of quality targets including Jack Wilshere said to be on their wishlist. The Arsenal midfielder has decided to leave the Gunners at the expiry of his contract next month.