Wayne Rooney is in talks about the prospect of an extraordinary return to English football with Derby County, Telegraph Sport can reveal.

The former Manchester United and England captain - who has been playing for DC United in Major League Soccer over the past year - is understood to be discussing the prospect of a player-coach role with the Championship club.

Derby appointed Phillip Cocu, the former Barcelona player, as manager last month on a four-year contract following Frank Lampard’s departure for Chelsea.

Mel Morris, the Derby owner, is now thought to be considering bringing another high-profile former England player in Rooney to the club to work and play under Cocu. Preliminary talks have taken place between Derby and Rooney’s agent, Paul Stretford, with further discussions planned. Both parties are hopeful of a deal being struck and Cocu, speaking after last night’s 2-1 win over Huddersfield, refused to deny Derby’s interest in the 33-year-old.

“At the moment I cannot say anything. We are working on completing the team and we said it was not complete yet,” he said. “It’s true we’re working to get the team done but I can’t say anything about names before things are done. We have a lot of players we think could be an asset for the team. You always try to get the best you can with the resources you have available at the club. There are a few more days, hopefully something can happen.”

Rooney, 33, is contracted to DC United until next year and it is unclear at this stage what that would mean for the MLS franchise if he does end up returning to English football with Derby.

It has been reported that Rooney’s wife, Coleen, has told friends she would like to return home to north-west England from America. The couple have four children, Kai, nine, Klay, six, Kit, three, and 17-month-old Cass.

Rooney is contracted to remain in the United States until next year credit: usa sports today

DC United are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference, six points adrift of leaders Philadelphia Union. Rooney is the fifth top scorer in the Eastern Conference with 11 goals.

Rooney is England’s all-time record scorer with 53 goals in 120 appearances and United’s record goalscorer with 253 goals in 559 matches, with whom he won five Premier League titles and the European Cup.

He joined United from Everton in 2004 before returning to his boyhood club in 2017, spending another season at Goodison Park and then moving to Washington last year.

But Rooney, who is in the process of doing his coaching badges, has made no secret of his desire to try his hand at coaching and management.

In June, he revealed that he has received offers to manage in England and the United States.

“I’m taking the steps to get my badges completed and when I finish playing I’ll see what opportunities come up,” Rooney said.

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“There’s already offers which have been made, but at the minute I'm still a player and I want to enjoy playing, and then I’ll see which offers are right when I do finish.”

Asked if he had been contacted by clubs from England or the US, he added: “Yeah, both. There’s an opportunity for me to go into management straight away and when I do hang my boots up, that decision will be made on what the ambition of the club is first of all, and what my ambitions are and what's right for both myself and that particular team.”

Derby were disappointed to lose Lampard after just a season in charge but recognised that it was difficult to deny the former England midfielder the opportunity to manage Chelsea at the top end of the Premier League, a club with whom he had enjoyed so much success as a player.

Lampard took Derby into the play-off final, after a dramatic semi-final triumph over Leeds United, only to lose 2-1 to Aston Villa at Wembley.

Morris was hugely impressed with Lampard and his success in a short time is likely to have had some bearing on the current situation with Rooney as he weighs up whether to bring another prominent former England player into the fold to work with Cocu.

It is thought Rooney is not yet ready to hang up his boots and wants to carry on playing but he is eager to make the foray into coaching and considers Derby a very appealing place to start that process. It would also be a relatively short commute from his family home in Cheshire.

Cocu, 48, who won over 100 caps for Holland and represented Barcelona during a stellar playing career, was in charge of PSV Eindhoven and Fenerbahce before succeeding Lampard at Derby. He took charge of his first competitive game against Huddersfield on Monday night.

If Rooney was to leave DC United, it would be a significant blow for them. The former United striker has been credited with helping to bring about huge transformation at the club.

“He’s changed everything. I think he’s changed the culture of this club,” Steve Birnbaum, the DC United defender, said. “The work ethic that he puts in in practice and you guys see it in the games, but he’s the type of guy who just wants to win at all costs. Guys want to play for him. They want to show him that they’re putting in the work just the same as he is. We have this sort of confidence or swag going into games because of him.”