WAYNE ROONEY has started preparations for Derby action TWO MONTHS before starting his career at Pride Park.
The ex-England captain was at the club’s training ground on Tuesday with his new team-mates.
Roo, 34, does not start his player-coach role at the Championship club until January but is getting ready before he officially starts.
He finished his two seasons with DC United in America in October with an MLS play-off defeat to Toronto.
At Pride Park he will start the coaching career he has had his eyes on since his time at Manchester United when he became the club’s top scorer.
But he will also be part of Phillip Cocu’s playing squad as 15h-placed Derby look to rise up to mount a play-off challenge.
Rooney will reportedly pocket around £100,000 a week after agreeing an 18-month contract last summer.
And he was in sharp form for most of his time in America, netting 25 goals in 52 games for DC.
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The former Everton star also made the MLS Best XI in 2018 and All Star squad this year.
It was thought Derby wanted Rooney to complete his own fitness regime over Christmas.
But he has turned up a month before that, in what the Rams will surely see as a morale-boosting mark of his commitment.
