Wayne Rooney is using Football Manager to find new players for D.C. United

Wayne Rooney is young in manager years but he’s showing early signs that he’s ready to use all weapons at his disposal to the benefit of his club. One of these weapons is Football Manager. Rooney has used FM’s vast scouting data to find players to play for D.C United.

Wayne Rooney joined D.C. United as manager in July 2022. The club were in a dire position at the time and finished the season with the worst record in the Eastern Conference. Things are looking much better in Rooney’s first full season. D.C. United already surpassed their point tally from last season with 10 games still to go and are fighting for a playoff position. One of the secrets to this turnaround appears to be the Football Manager video game series.

During an interview he conducted with The Times on July 15, Wayne Rooney shared how Football Manager has helped D.C. United’s recruitment since he got there.

“A lot of the market is South America and we’ve done a deal with Football Manager 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,” he said. “Jose Mourinho has done something similar in the past.”

D.C. United have been very active on the transfer market since Wayne Rooney took over, with over a dozen new signings. Apparently, a lot of the scouting data for these players was received courtesy of Football Manager. Given the improvement of United’s fortunes this season, this could be counted as another triumph of FM’s famous scouting accuracy.

By Rooney’s account, he’s also not the only manager to make the best out of Football Manager’s scouting range. When someone like Jose Mourinho trusts you for potential transfers, you’re doing something right.