Wayne Rooney returns for Manchester United

By
Updated: January 7, 2017
waynerooneycelebratesvbayerleverkusensept172013pa_large

Wayne Rooney will return to Manchester United’s starting line-up against Reading in the FA Cup.

The 31-year-old needs one goal to equal Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time scoring record of 249 at United and is back after three games out with a thigh problem, while Sergio Romero will start in goal instead of first-choice keeper David de Gea.

Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay will not be considered while their futures remain unresolved, defender Eric Bailly is at the African Nations Cup and Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be rested, though Luke Shaw may feature and Bastian Schweinsteiger will be in the squad.

Provisional squad: De Gea, Romero, Valencia, Fosu-Mensah, Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Darmian, Shaw, Blind, Young, Fellaini, Carrick, Herrera, Schweinsteiger, Pogba, Lingard, Mata, Mkhitaryan, Martial, Rashford, Ibrahimovic, Rooney.