England

Roy Hodgson hints at Wayne Rooney England captaincy

By Alex Meyers, Reporter | 12 August 2014

Roy Hodgson says that Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard are the two candidates to take on the role of being the next captain of England.

England manager Roy Hodgson has claimed that he has "half-chosen" who will be the new captain of the national side.

Following the country's exit from the World Cup, Steven Gerrard announced his decision to retire from international football, leaving many to speculate over who will take over the armband.

Wayne Rooney is regarded by many as the favourite to take on the role as skipper, and Hodgson has admitted that the choice is between the Manchester United player and Frank Lampard.

"Frank is the vice captain and there is Wayne Rooney, so there are two candidates," The Mirror quotes him as saying. "At the moment, Frank's concentration has to be on this Manchester City job and in New York, where he could very well be captain.

"I don't think I can expect him to say, 'Please make me captain because in 2018 I want to lead the team out', because I don't think he will be thinking that himself.

"I have half-chosen him (the next captain). The person who is captain for the Norway game will be the person I will be designating to hopefully be the captain in 2016."

Rooney has scored 40 goals in 95 appearances for England.