Man United legend Wayne Rooney handed first major blow of new job as bumper contract refused

Manchester United great Wayne Rooney has been handed a hammer blow as he prepares for pre-season with new club Plymouth Argyle. Rooney has taken the reins in the south west ahead of the new season after being sacked by Birmingham City earlier this year.

Championship outfit Plymouth are looking to build on last season's 21st-placed finish in the second tier - their first campaign at that level for 14 years - and have looked to Rooney to spearhead a new era after Steven Schumacher left the club in December. However, it has not begun well for Rooney with goalkeeper Michael Cooper rejecting a bumper new contract that would have made him the club's highest-paid player, reports Manchester Evening News' sister title PlymouthLive.

Argyle are now in a position where they face losing Cooper for free at the end of the upcoming season if they do not sell him this summer. He made 19 appearances last season, appearing in the final ten games of the campaign as Plymouth secured survival with two wins from their final four games.

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Rooney will now have to deal with finding a likely replacement for Cooper, Argyle's player of the season for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaign, with the Old Trafford hero given a real headache so soon into his career at Plymouth. The 38-year-old is in his fourth job in management having had spells with Derby County, D.C. United and Birmingham.

He was sacked by the Blues after just 83 days in charge at St Andrew's at the beginning of January with nine defeats from 15 games in the Second City hotseat.