Rooney to play as striker for Everton: Koeman

Soccer Football - Premier League - Everton - Wayne Rooney Press Conference - Liverpool, Britain - July 10, 2017 Everton's Wayne Rooney with manager Ronald Koeman during the press conference REUTERS/Phil Noble

LONDON (Reuters) - Wayne Rooney will play as a striker for Everton, his manager Ronald Koeman said on Monday when the 31-year-old was officially unveiled after returning to his first club following 13 years at Manchester United.

Rooney trained with his new team mates at their Finch Farm centre earlier in the day before addressing the cameras with Koeman when he said returning to the club was a "no-brainer".

Koeman immediately made it clear that he expected Rooney to provide an offensive threat, ending suggestions that he might play in midfield.

"Everyone knows the qualities of Wayne. We're trying to get more productivity. He can be 10 behind the striker, the 9, the 7," said Koeman.

"We need to improve our goal strike rate. Last season Romelu (Lukaku) scored 25 goals and the next best was with four or five. That's not good enough. Wayne is the sort of player who can bring productivity to the team."

(Reporting by Neil Robinson, editing by Ed Osmond)