Wayne Rooney tipped to follow path of "fantastic managers" Frank Lampard and Mikel Arteta

Wayne Rooney’s former Manchester United teammate Tomasz Kuszczak is “certain” the Derby County manager will be in conversations about the Old Trafford job before long.

United are preparing to enter their first season under a new boss, with Erik ten Hag due to take over ahead of the new season. The Dutchman has agreed a three-year contract with the club, and if he sees it to its conclusion it will mean he has taken charge of more Premier League games than any United boss since Sir Alex Ferguson.

Rooney is still in the early stages of his managerial career, and was unable to stave off relegation with Derby after their points deduction.

However, after witnessing the likes of Frank Lampard and Mikel Arteta take charge of the clubs where they spent a chunk of their playing careers - with former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard linked with an eventual Anfield return later in his own career - Kuszczak has high hopes for his ex-colleague.

"To become a good manager you need the trust from the football people and I think he got this trust in Derby," says Kuszczak, speaking exclusively to Mirror Football courtesy of bet365.

" My friend is playing there, Krystian Bielik, and obviously [there is] a lot of chat about Wayne and his training and how he gets more and more experienced each day.

"He's an intelligent man, which maybe from the outside it didn't look like that. Maybe he didn't look responsible from his career - you know how Wayne is, he was full-hearted and had many critics, but he's always going to be an icon for English football and he already proved that he's going to be a great manager."

Derby finished 23rd of 24 teams in the Championship, having been deducted a total of 21 points over the course of the