In an interview with BBC’s Football Focus the 32-year-old explained that he decided against a big money move abroad when he left Manchester United after 13 years last summer even though “it would have been quite easy”.

Rooney said that his “desire to play would have been lost” had he moved overseas to “see out the last few years of my career earning a lot of money”.

His former Manchester United strike partner Carlos Tevez was reported to be among the highest players in world during his season with Shanghai Shenhua.

Rooney had long been linked with a move to a number of Chinese sides during his final few seasons at Old Trafford.