Wayne Rooney believes leaving Manchester United for Everton will help him win back his England spot

WAYNE ROONEY wants to use his dream return to Everton to fire himself into England’s squad for next summer’s World Cup.

The outbound Manchester United striker has endured a poor couple of seasons and had to settle on a place on the bench for Jose Mourinho’s team last season.

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That saw him gradually ousted from Gareth Southgate’s plans in the England set-up, and with little option other than to move to get back into the Three Lions picture.

Rooney, 31, is set for a return to the club he left as an 18-year-old after making his big international tournament debut at Euro 2004.

The young forward then wowed the watching English public with a series of powerful displays and memorably scared the wits out of Croatia’s defence in a 4-2 win.

He then broke his metatarsal in the quarter-final against Portugal as England were knocked out.

And after three largely unsuccessful World Cup campaigns under Sven Goran-Eriksson, Fabio Capello and Roy Hodgson, Rooney wants to use the Everton move as a platform for an international return.

There was no chance of him being called up for England while he was sat on the bench during United’s mediocre Premier League campaign.

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And despite scoring a crucial late equaliser against Stoke in the league, top moments were all-too rare for United and England’s all-time leading goalscorer.

But Rooney is ready to turn over a new leaf with a fresh start under Ronald Koeman.

The Dutchman wants the Merseyside-born superstar to justify his own place in the Everton squad in order to get playing time at Goodison.

And with the incentive of becoming the first Englishman to play in four World Cup tournaments, Rooney will no doubt find extra motivation.

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Rooney never been officially stripped of the Three Lions captaincy, but Harry Kane is being tipped to take over the armband ahead of next summer.

Southgate said in May: “I certainly don’t rule [Rooney’s return] out because a player of his quality and experience, you hope he will reach the levels we know he can and be a big part of England’s future.

“Knowing Wayne and his mentality he’ll want to prove people wrong, prove me wrong and he’s more than capable of doing that.”