Wayne Rooney opens up on crazy ‘discovery list’ rule in MLS, as he reveals how he used Jesse Lingard in an attempt to make his DC United side money

DC United manager Wayne Rooney has revealed how he used a crazy MLS rule and Jesse Lingard to potentially make his club money.

Rooney explained how he put his former Manchester United team-mate on his ‘discovery list’, which means that DC United will receive money even if Lingard makes the move to the MLS but still ends up joining a rival team.

Every club in the league can name up to seven players on their discovery list, which is made up of players who are playing outside MLS.

In the event that a club signs a player on another team’s discovery list they must pay that club a fee.

Rooney named Lingard on his discovery list while he was at Nottingham Forest and looked to make money from it.

Wayne Rooney has revealed that he put Jesse Lingard on DC United’s discovery list

Rooney’s DC United will make money if Lingard signs for another club in MLS

Rooney told The Times: ‘You don’t know about “discovery” players? OK, take Erling Haaland.

‘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.’

Lingard is currently a free agent following his departure from Forest at the end of June.

He played with Rooney for both United and England.

Lingard and Rooney were previously team-mates when they were at Manchester United

Lingard played 232 times for United in total and scored 35 goals, while he provided another 21 assists.

During his time at United he had loan spells at Leicester, Birmingham, Brighton, Derby and West Ham before later breaking into the first team.

Rooney, United’s all-time record goalscorer, commenced his coaching career at Derby County before taking charge of DC United in July 2022.

Next week Rooney will coach the MLS all-star team against Arsenal in Washington D.C.

Wayne Rooney opens up on crazy ‘discovery list’ rule in MLS

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook.

You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.

Wayne Rooney opens up on crazy ‘discovery list’ rule in MLS | Daily Mail Online