Wayne Rooney close to returning to management with Championship Plymouth

SWIFT RETURN: Wayne Rooney is close to signing a three-year deal with Plymouth (Mike Egerton/PA)

Former England captain Wayne Rooney is close to returning to management with Sky Bet Championship Plymouth, the PA news agency understands.

The 38-year-old and the club are understood to have agreed terms and he is expected to sign a three-year deal over the weekend.

Argyle director of football Neil Dewsnip knows Rooney from his time as boss of Everton’s Academy, from which the striker emerged as a teenager.

Wayne Rooney was in charge at Birmingham for just 15 games (Danny Lawson/PA)

The former Manchester United star has been out of work since being sacked as Birmingham manager in January after just 15 games, only two of which resulted in victory.

He had earlier cut his teeth in management at Derby before heading for the United States and MLS side DC United.

Plymouth dispensed with the services of Ian Foster in April, just three months after he had replaced Steven Schumacher following his departure for Stoke.

The club were sitting just one place and a single point above the relegation zone at the time and that is exactly where they finished after Dewsnip and first-team coach Kevin Nancekivell guided them to three wins from their last six games, the last of them a 1-0 final-day victory over Hull which kept them up.