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Expert witness claims Wayne Rooney's manager was overpaid

Wayne Rooney may be a world class footballer, but lawyers hinted yesterday that he is non league when it comes to negotiating his own contracts. The England footballer, who is being sued for £4.3 million by Proactive Sports Management in unpaid commission.

Paul Stretford is Mr and Mrs Rooneys manager and was a founder and director of the sports management firm Proactive. He brokered advertising and endorsement deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, Asda and LG mobile phones for the couple.

When Mr Streford left Proactive acrimoniously in 2008, he took the Rooneys with him and continues to represent them as a manager, not as a licensed football agent.

But he has been told he is paying far too much for Mr Stretford’s services by Ian Mill, QC, counsel for Proactive. Mr Mill told Mr Rooney that their expert witness Mel Stein, (Paul Gascoigne's former agent) will tell the court next week that for a player in his star quality to pay 20 per cent in commission to a new firm of agents amounted to generosity "unheard of" in football.

He agreed with counsel that Mr Rooney trusted Mr Stretford and was grateful to him for making him a very wealthy young man.

The problems, arose when the relationship between Mr Stretford and Proactive broke down over the refusal by the Proactive board to fund a costly legal appeal against the Football Association.

The trial continues.

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