Rooney signs for Mercedes!
Man United striker Wayne Rooney has signed a lucrative £1 million contract to be an ambassador for Mercedes.
As part of the two year deal, the 22-year-old will have to drive a Mercedes to all matches and most training sessions – leaving wife Coleen to drive the rest of his fleet of luxury cars.
England international Rooney has already taken delivery of a customised Mercedes CL 63 AMG worth more than £120,000 for his troubles.
The Man United star will also be allowed to drive the rest of the company’s models including the C63 AMG and CLS as well as having a chauffeur-driven Merc for public events.
For a brand that prides itself on its exclusive, upmarket image, Rooney is perhaps not the obvious choice for a new public ‘face’.
Indeed, some marketing experts have already questioned the new signing, suggesting the firm could lose out from ‘chavving down’, with brand analyst Peter York called it ‘extremely strange’.
He said: ‘Ordinarily you’d expect Mercedes to choose someone aspirational and classy to advertise its cars, and it’s fair to say Wayne Rooney doesn’t fit that category.
‘It’s extremely strange. You have to ask who chose him? Was it someone who has misunderstood his image or was it perhaps a calculated move to ensure people talked about it?”
Despite his young age, Rooney has had his fair share of supercars including a Lamborghini Gallardo, Bentley Continental GT, Ferrari F430 and an Aston Martin Vanquish – the latter being sold on Auto Trader earlier this year.
But while he can't drive any of these cars to matches, he can still drive another one of his supercars - a limited edition, 199mph Mercedes CLK DTM which would have set him back £200,000 - less than a fortnight's wages!
Not bad going for someone whose first set of wheels was a humble Ford Sport KA!