Wayne Rooney has backed his former Derby County assistant manager Liam Rosenior to succeed if he is appointed as Chelsea’s next head coach to replace Enzo Maresca
Former Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney has thrown his weight behind Liam Rosenior to take over the reins at Chelsea. Rosenior, who was Rooney’s assistant manager during their time at Derby County, is tipped to replace Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge.
Rosenior, 41, old has been making waves in France with Chelsea’s sister club, Strasbourg – who are also owned by BlueCo – for the past year and a half. His record speaks volumes, having won 31 and drawn 15 of his 63 matches in charge.
Rosenior got his first taste of management when he took over from Rooney as Derby’s interim head coach in June 2022. After a brief stint of just 12 games, he left the Rams for Hull City.
“Liam was so important for me. He was incredible in his coaching ability. I was more of the manager and dealing with players and everything,” Rooney stated on his BBC podcast, The Wayne Rooney show.
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“His detail, how he approaches the day-to-day, he’s as good as I’ve worked with. So I learned a lot from him from that point of view and then I think he’s done a great job as a whole.”
After 19 months at the MKM Stadium, Rosenior left the club only to be snapped up by Strasbourg following Patrick Viera’s departure. The ex-Brighton and Fulham defender led the Ligue 1 club to a respectable seventh-place finish in the 2024/25 season, earning them a spot in the Conference League, reports football.london.
Strasbourg are currently sitting in seventh place in the Ligue 1 standings, having earned 24 points from their first 17 games. Not only that, but they’ve also topped the Conference League with an impressive record of five victories and a single draw from six matches.
“He’s also got a side which you don’t want to cross him as well,” Rooney said. “That’s important as well. If he goes in there, he won’t disappoint. He’s been waiting for an opportunity like this.
“If you don’t take it now, then you’re never going to take it. And I think he’s done his apprenticeship, he’s done his work to try and get to that job.
“So he’ll have no doubts in his mind that he’s capable of doing that job. And hopefully, very soon, hopefully we hear that he is the manager, because for young English coaches I think it’s massive.
“We don’t really see English managers at big clubs. So he’d be leading the way for for us.”
Maresca and Chelsea parted ways on New Year’s Day, with a 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth the Italian’s final match in charge of the Blues. Calum McFarlane stepped in as caretaker boss for Sunday’s journey to Manchester City, where they earned a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
Chelsea’s next outing will see them make the short trip across London to face Fulham at Craven Cottage.
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