Alan Shearer has implored Wayne Rooney to retire from international football for the sake of his club career.

The former Newcastle United and England star is of the belief that Three Lions skipper Rooney should now focus on Manchester United if he wants to have sustained success for the remainder of his playing days.

Shearer quit England at the age of 29 and it paid massive dividends as he went on to score prolifically for the Magpies and he has urged Rooney to do the same.

Writing in his column for The Sun, Shearer opined: "It is time for Rooney to be selfish and start thinking just about himself.

"And that, I really regret to say, means his retirement from international football.

"I don't say this in the belief that he is no longer good enough for England — he is.

"But he is 30 now and captaining your club and country, satisfying the demand to play at the top level for both, gets harder.

"I retired in 2000 aged 29. Much of that was down to three serious injuries. Some people said I was being selfish.

"I knew my body better than anyone and simply could not do it any more for club and country.

"If I had gone on there would have come a time when I would have been dropped because I couldn't satisfy the physical demands.

"So I decided to cut my England career short to avoid that day and also so I could give my best to Newcastle.

"I played on until I was almost 36 and would not have been able to do that had I played any longer for England."

Shearer added: "He has answered the call for club and country for so long.

"He has adapted to different positions to suit various managers. Now it is time to think about himself.

"No matter how painful it might be, that means retiring from England and international football."