David Moyes has voiced his conviction that Wayne Rooney will accept the new contract that has been offered to him:
"Of course I am optimistic. I said we are going to be positive at Everton and I am. We have made him a tremendous offer and I would expect that to be accepted. I think we have made a good offer and I am sure in the coming days or weeks we will find out exactly what is going on."
However Moyes’ optimism is not shared by the broadsheet press. The Independent report that Rooney is refusing to sign the contract:
‘Wayne Rooney is refusing to sign a new contract at Everton after an urgent meeting about his future with the club's chairman, Bill Kenwright, and the manager, David Moyes, yesterday.
‘The outlook is muddied by the turmoil behind the scenes at the club, with Gregg and Kenwright pulling in different directions, plus the failure to land signings. Kenwright passionately wants to keep Rooney but is under pressure from many sides, and the latest failure to persuade the teenager to sign up means Everton may have to put him up for sale.
‘The problem for Everton is that the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea are likely to offer less than Everton wanted even a month ago because they are now seen as a club in trouble. Even Moyes admitted that Everton is "doing its washing in public" at the moment.
‘United could make an opening bid of around £18m if they were given any encouragement, well below what Everton want. And for all of Chelsea's claims that they are not in the market for Rooney, their owner, Roman Abramovich, is still poised and could beat any offer if he wanted Rooney rather than see him join one of their main rivals.
‘Even Rooney's camp are claiming the player is "confused and concerned" by the state he finds his beloved club in and a source said: "There is a large part of his heart still at Everton and he would love to stay."’
The Guardian also speculates that the contract will be rejected, and looks more closely at the supposed £50’000 per week offer:
‘Wayne Rooney is scheduled to return to Everton for the first time since Euro 2004 today, when he is set to reject the club's offer of a new contract.
‘Though Everton insisted the 18-year-old forward would be given £50,000 a week if he signed, those close to the striker believe that sum is dependent on performance-related bonuses, which will only be paid if David Moyes's team enjoy significant success. Considering that they finished 17th in the Premiership last term, this appears unlikely.
‘It is understood that Rooney's advisers have received no satisfactory answers to repeated requests for further detail on a single-page contract offer submitted by fax from Everton on July 5. Most contract offers of this kind span several pages filled with detailed clauses, but Everton's piece of A4 was lacking such minutiae.
‘An Everton insider last night rebuffed such claims, insisting Rooney would definitely be paid £50,000 a week over five years no matter how the team performed, and said full details of his new contract would be forwarded to his advisers as soon as he indicated a willingness to accept. The insider added that there was no need to say more than "we are offering you £50,000 a week over five years".
‘Some close to Rooney are convinced that Everton are privately intent on selling him and have merely made a great show of publicly offering the striker £50,000 a week and pricing him at £50m in order to appease fans and would-be season ticket buyers, most of whom remain adamant he should stay. It is an impression only intensified by rumours that Bill Kenwright, Everton's chairman, would accept an offer of £25m for Rooney.’
Everton director Paul Gregg, currently involved in the very public power struggle within Everton’s boardroom, told BBC Radio that the club may well lose Rooney:
“I wish we could persuade him to stay. It's sad other forces make decisions for us,” said Gregg. “This is home-bred talent who has not had the chance to mature. We've not had the full benefit of his talent yet.”
“He's a big ambassador for Everton Football Club, so of course we'd like to see him stay. I sincerely hope he will still be here when the season kicks off but unfortunately it may be other forces which make the decision for us.”