Alan Shearer has urged Wayne Rooney to follow in the footsteps of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
The England captain's future at Manchester United continues to be questioned due to his recent bit-part role in Jose Mourinho's team.
Gerrard knew when to call time on his Liverpool career when he left for LA Galaxy in the summer of 2015 while Lampard departed Chelsea for New York City, via Manchester City, after his glittering playing days in London.
Former Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers and England star Shearer is of the belief that Rooney's current situation calls for a change, as hard as it may be.
“There are two men who Wayne Rooney knows very well who he can speak to about where his career is at right now," Shearer wrote in his column for The Sun.
“Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard found themselves in a very similar situation.
“Both, like Manchester United superstar Rooney, had been integral to their club's successes over many years.
“Gerrard spent 17 years at Liverpool and Lampard 13 at Chelsea.
“For them, the time came when their clubs no longer needed them and when they were no longer going to be first choice.
“They either had to accept it or give up. And they accepted it, however hard that was.
“So Gerrard moved on to LA Galaxy and Lampard to Manchester City and New York City.
“They just wanted to play football — and that is what their former England team-mate Rooney wants to do.
“Rooney has been a brilliant player and, having just turned 31, still has something to offer.
“But not by sitting on the bench at Old Trafford.
“No player who can still kick a ball wants to be doing that. It is how he then handles life after his glory years at Old Trafford.
“Increasingly it seems it will not be like that for Rooney, and we have seen plenty of examples of players who have left United and found it very tough to adapt elsewhere.
“For them, the standards were not the same, nor the players around them.
“It is hard but it is something Roo looks like he will have to accept if he wants to continue playing football for the next few years.
“And Wayne Rooney still needs to be playing football."
