Paul Parker claims Wayne Rooney was purely to blame for his Manchester United decline, and is under huge pressure to deliver at Everton.

Rooney, United’s greatest ever goalscorer, has rejoined his boyhood club having lost his status as an automatic starter at Old Trafford.

According to Parker, the striker should be in better shape than he is at 31 and the former United defender is warning Rooney he has a big battle on his hands to meet expectations in his second spell with Everton.

Speaking on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, Parker said: “I hope more than anything that he goes there and does himself justice. He is only 31 and I think he knows in himself that he has let himself down. He shouldn’t be in the kind of shape or the situation he is at 31 given where he has been.

“Now he has gone back to where he loves, expectations are going to be high. He is going to be expected to go there and deliver and help the young players.

“Everton fans will be looking for him to do it and, if he doesn’t get anywhere near to that, I think they will let him know it because, as one of their own, they will want him to go out there and make them feel proud.”