SoccerRooney could be heading for Canada

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John Rooney, left, could end up being drafted by Vancouver or Toronto. (Getty Images)

When it comes to mildly misleading headlines, I take responsibility for this one. I'm not lying you understand. There is a possibility the caption may become reality following Thursday's MLS SuperDraft. It all depends on whom the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC select.
 
John Rooney has a famous surname. It is one he shares with Manchester United and England superstar Wayne. Sadly he doesn't share the talent of his world famous older brother. Rooney junior is hoping his skill, not his name, will help him launch a new career in North America.
 
It hasn't helped him in his native England. To date John Rooney's career has been the polar opposite of Wayne's. They were both products of the Everton Youth Academy but there the similarities end. While Wayne shot to stardom, John struggled to hold down a permanent contract.
 
Make no mistake - John Rooney has talent. The very fact he made it to the professional ranks is evidence alone. In a little over two years he made 25 League appearances, most off the bench, for League Two club Macclesfield Town, scoring three goals.
 
At the end of last season he was offered a new contract, which he turned down. Playing in the fourth tier of English soccer was clearly insufficient to satisfy the ambition of the young striker who recently turned 20.

Coming to America
 
How much talent? Clearly not from the same rare gene pool as his illustrious brother but perhaps enough to get himself noticed when teams start picking players in Baltimore. Training stints at Seattle and MLS newcomers Portland in the fall will have done Rooney no harm.
 
Certainly the goals he scored last season would grace any MLS game. A long range curler at Carlisle, minutes after coming on as a substitute in a losing cause, and a left foot volley at Cheltenham 10 days later suggests he has more than an eye for goal.
 
The Whitecaps have the first overall pick at the SuperDraft. They also have a second top-ten selection as a result of trading Nathan Sturgis to Toronto FC last November. As things stand, TFC doesn't get a pick until midway through the second round.
 
Will either Canadian club be tempted by Rooney? The answer is probably. He's young and hungry and brings two years of professional experience - something few of his fellow draft hopefuls can include on their soccer resumes.
 
Both the Whitecaps and Toronto FC need a goal scorer. Vancouver has four picks to help fill out its roster and may well see the value in a player schooled at an English Premier League Academy. Currently there isn't a single out and out striker on the Whitecaps' squad.
 
Toronto FC's inability to score enough goals has cost the franchise dear. Dwayne de Rosario apart, the club has laboured to finish chances from year one. DeRo needs help and support - an issue the new management team must address quickly.
 
The downside of Rooney

Inevitably there is a potential downside to drafting Rooney junior. Clearly he'd take up an International roster spot which both teams would ideally want to avoid in the rookie selection process. But I think there's a more fundamental risk involved.
 
Rooney can do nothing about two things: his name and his brother. There is no doubt in my mind that John wants to escape from Wayne's shadow. Rightly, he wants to be judged on his own merits and not how he measures up to his sibling.
 
He could be a late bloomer. Perhaps coming to North America will be the making of him. Maybe he'll find his true level in Major League Soccer, start banging in goals for fun, become Rookie of the Year and return to England a hero.
 
Or maybe, and more likely, he'll never be as good as Wayne, and is having trouble accepting it. Only John knows the answer. Only he carries the burden of trying to follow in the footsteps of his celebrity brother and coming to terms with that reality.
 
Can he make his own way in the game and accept it for what it is? Being a Rooney may get John into nightclubs or restaurants. But it won't make him a successful footballer, in MLS or anywhere else, if the raw materials are missing.

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