Wayne Rooney is using Football Manager to sign players at D.C United

Wayne Rooney has admitted to using the Football Manager in order to find and sign players for D.C United.

Rooney is in his second managerial job with the Washington outfit, who he spent two seasons playing for at the end of his career.

D.C were at the very foot of the league when Rooney took charge of his first game at the end of last season but they now sit in ninth place in the MLS Eastern Conference.

Manchester United and England's record goalscorer has turned things around and made a number of savvy signings in the transfer market.

He's acquired 15 new players, including Christian Benteke, Mateusz Klich and Lewis O'Brien, who joined on loan from Nottingham Forest.

Rooney's contacts and reputation has helped him greatly but he's also secured a couple of gems, including Iraqi defender Mohanad Jeahze, who had been playing in Sweden with Hammarby FC.

Image: Getty

And in an new interview with The Times, Rooney has revealed Football Manager has been a very useful tool with its comprehensive database and scouting network.

The popular Sports Interactive game is played by managers and players alike is known for finding wonderkids form all over the world.

He said: “A lot of the market is South America and we’ve done a deal with Football Manager [the computer game] where we give them some advertising and they give us access to the scouts — 11 or 12 of them — they use in different places across the world to help them create the game. Jose Mourinho has done something similar in the past.”

Rooney is taking charge of the MLS All Stars against Arsenal on Thursday and also spoke about the league's 'Discovery List' ruling.

Every team in the league can have a maximum of seven players on their list and it means that teams also have to pay a sum to the club who "discovered" their new signing.

Image: Getty

In a shrewd move, Jesse Lingard was place on Rooney's list of players at DC.

Rooney explained: "We could put Haaland on our ‘Discovery List’ and it means that if he ever came to the MLS but let’s say wanted to play for one of the LA teams and not us, the LA team would have to pay Man City – and us. Because we’ve 'discovered' him! It’s crazy.

"But if you’re clever, you can make money. Last year when Jesse Lingard signed for a year with [Nottingham] Forest we put him on our Discovery List because you thought there’s every chance that after a year at Forest he’ll want to come to the US and that would mean we could sign him or get money for him."