D.C. United’s changing room at Audi Field is a far cry from their old digs at RFK. Gone is the dingy carpet, replaced by neatly interlocking sections of charcoal and slate-colored tile. It has a distinctly “Twin Peaks” vibe, with faux-wood beams spanning the ceiling and tavern lighting that makes it feel a bit more like the Red Room than a locker room.

Last night, after United’s 2-1 victory over Minnesota United, Wayne Rooney and Luciano Acosta sat side by side. The club doesn’t assign lockers at their new facility—players who are on the gameday roster typically just grab one—but it’s tough to remember a time when Acosta and Rooney haven’t set up shop in adjacent stalls.

The Argentine motioned to his phone, showing Rooney who-knows-what; Rooney cracks a wry smile and ventures a word or two in Spanish.

“He’ll be speaking English in six months,” Rooney joked after a recent match. Acosta responded that evening by dubbing Rooney “Señor Wayne.” For now, the language barrier remains.

On the field, though, the two players are communicating very clearly.

It’s plain to see that the English legend and the Argentine upstart have forged a special relationship. After a frustrating pair of years spent plying his trade alongside D.C. United’s assemblage of journeymen and role-players, Acosta has finally come alive. In Rooney, the former Boca Juniors midfielder has finally found his match.

And Rooney—a player who was badly in need of a fresh start after hitting a dead end at Everton—has found the same in D.C. The former Manchester United great has little left to prove. He is playing with confidence, with a looseness and joy that at times eluded him in the tail end of his career in England. It’s a pleasure to watch.

“He’s an extraordinary player,” Acosta told The Athletic after D.C.’s 3-2 August victory over Orlando, a performance capped by that goal, that game-winner that nudged Rooney and Acosta into the international limelight for a few days.

“He played (in the Premier League) for a long time, won everything. He’s a player that has a lot of experience—he knows where to be on the field, knows where you are, and he’s always looking for you. He’s just a great player—we all know it, we’ve all seen it. Little by little, he keeps showing us that quality.”

Rooney returned the compliment.

“I think everyone can see the talent and ability he’s got,” he said of Acosta. “He’s a fantastic player with all of his ability—we just need to keep on top of him and keep him performing like he’s been doing for us because he’ll be a really important player for us (for the rest of the year.)”

Rooney’s effect on United is nearly impossible to quantify at this point; he’s proved a near-perfect compliment to the club’s long-awaited new home, a one-two punch that’s helped propel United out of a decade of irrelevance. On the field, he has exceeded expectations by most measures, bagging four goals and a half-dozen assists. Dead last in the league just weeks ago, United now have a legitimate shot at post-season play.

And his impact on Acosta may be more dramatic than any of that. The diminutive Argentine has gone from an entertaining—albeit inconsistent—No. 10 to a difference-maker in every match. With eight games to play, Acosta has already set a career mark for goals and is one shy of his career high for assists. The sort of one and two-touch exchanges the two players combine for around the box are a dose of pure serotonin to fans of United, supporters who’ve long pined for a style of play that is a bit easier on the eyes.

Rooney may have sown some early seeds of his partnership with Acosta when he first visited D.C. in May. Over dinner with United managing partner Jason Levien, he discussed which number he’d wear. There was a conflict—Rooney’s traditional number, 10, was already taken. It was Lucho’s.

“He said, ‘No, I don’t want it, I want to fit in. What’s the right number for me? You guys let me know,'” Levien told the media at Rooney’s unveiling. “It’s all been that way with him.”

Days later, the two seemed to connect immediately at training. After Rooney’s debut—a memorable 3-1 victory over Vancouver that gave observers a small taste of Rooney and Acosta’s budding on-field relationship—Rooney, wearing No. 9, pulled the Argentine in for a bear hug, slung his arm around Acosta’s neck, and strolled across the length of the field with him to salute United’s supporters. It was as if they’d known each other for years.

Of course, they met only recently. But it may be that Rooney’s deep experience has helped incubate the partnership. Asked if Acosta reminds him of any particular teammate from earlier in his career, Rooney thought for a moment and said, “I’ve played with a lot of different players. Maybe (he reminds me) of a Carlos Tevez. Someone like that. But I think he’s a fantastic player—and I think he can score more goals…. Maybe if he becomes a bit more selfish, he could score more goals.

United head coach Ben Olsen does not count himself among the group of people surprised by the duo’s chemistry, and he doesn’t give himself a ton of credit for throwing them together, either. It’s just not that complicated, he says.

“The combinations, the understanding of good soccer players, it’s easy,” Olsen told The Athletic earlier this year. “Good soccer players find other good soccer players on the field and they play together. It’s not coaching, it’s just what it is and what it’s always been.”

United, it seems, will need Rooney and Acosta to keep finding each other for the next 48 days. Should “Señor Wayne” and “La Joya” manage to do so, it’s conceivable that D.C. might just complete its miraculous turn-around and slip into the playoffs.

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(Photo: Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)