Rooney raring to get Birmingham back to the Premier League

Wayne Rooney is fully focused on getting Birmingham back to the Premier League after being appointed manager of the Midlands club.

The former Manchester United and England captain was announced as John Eustace's successor at the Blues on Wednesday, days after quitting Major League Soccer outfit DC United.

In his first press conference as boss, Rooney made no secret of his grand ambitions for the Championship side, who have spent the last 12 years out of England's top flight.

The 37-year-old said: "That's the goal, to get this club back to the Premier League — of course it is.

"There's a lot of work to be done throughout the football club. 

"But the Premier League is where we want to get to. 

"It's an ambition of mine, it's an ambition of the club's and we're putting everything in place to make sure we do that in the near future."

Rooney, who began his management journey with a two-year spell at Derby before heading to MLS, revealed he turned down offers from other English clubs to join the ambitious Blues.

He added: "To get back into English football is great. It's obviously what I've wanted to do and to be honest, I've had opportunities to do so in the last four to six weeks at other clubs.

"But since speaking to Birmingham and seeing the ambition of the club and where they want to go, it excited me.

"I want to be successful and it's clear that the club wants to be successful. Everything we spoke about really was very similar so it was a really easy decision once I'd spoken to them.

"I had my first training session today with the players and it will be a bit different to what they're used to but it's an exciting time and I'm delighted to be a part of it."

Birmingham are currently riding high inside the Championship play-off places in sixth after winning five and drawing three of their first 11 games of the campaign.

Rooney's first match in the dugout will be against Middlesbrough, who are managed by former Red Devils team-mate Michael Carrick, on October 21.