Wayne Rooney, 32 years young, Manchester United and England’s all-time leading scorer, originally and most recently of Everton, stepped off a plane at Dulles International Airport last week looking like the forgotten member of a late-’90s boyband embarking on a mission to the moon.



In addition to building a $400 million new stadium and wooing potential new owners, D.C. United is putting moves on the future by signing the hard-ridden English star to a three-and-a-half-year deal.



It is difficult to imagine what Washington, D.C., will look like in three and half years. If after that time, Wayne Rooney is the only thing standing, I wouldn’t be surprised. But before he treads the burnt remains of our nation’s capital hunting for small game, he will need to establish a sustainable dynamic at his new club.



One might respect D.C. United’s brazen belief in a man whose career already spans sixteen years. United has existed for only...