Everton ramping up efforts to sign Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney

Everton are eager to lure Manchester United's Wayne Rooney back to Goodison Park and will attempt to sign the forward in the summer. The Toffees tried to take their one-time golden boy on loan in the January transfer window but their offer was rejected by United, who seem prepared to let their record goalscorer leave at the end of the season.

Everton boss Ronald Koeman has made no secret of his admiration for Rooney and The Times reports he is keen to add him to the squad in the summer transfer window. The Dutchman believes the 31-year-old has another two or three years at the top level and says he is someone who can make Everton stronger. Koeman has not been afraid to voice his interest in summer targets in recent months and recently talked up Burnley defender Michael Keane, who is being lined up for a summer move to Merseyside.

The former Everton wonderkid has not started a Premier League game for United since 10 January and was an unused substitute as Manchester United defeated Southampton in the EFL Cup final at Wembley last weekend. England's all-time record goalscorer recently announced that he will be staying with Jose Mourinho's side until the end of the season after resisting interest from the Chinese Super League but is firmly behind the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the pecking order at Old Trafford.

Rooney is currently on a £300,000-a-week at Manchester United and would presumably have to take a paycut in order to rejoin his old club. Everton don't pay their players anywhere near that amount but have recently offered star striker Romelu Lukaku a new long-term contract worth £140,000-a-week.

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has always maintained a desire to bring the Manchester United captain back to Goodison and majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri is ready to invest heavily to help Koeman's side compete at the top of the Premier League. Everton may have aspirations of a romantic Rooney return but their immediate focus is on their trip to Tottenham, who have not lost at White Hart Lane in the Premier League this season.