Wayne Rooney's Everton return has not been a fairytale… Jose Mourinho felt he could do without him at Manchester United and the Toffees are suffering the same old conundrum

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Towards the end of his Manchester United and England careers, Wayne Rooney was used to having his jobs for club and country chopped and changed.

Jose Mourinho said Rooney would always be a 'No 9, a 10, or a 9-and-a-half' while Roy Hodgson proclaimed he was the type who could play in any position, even in goal.

It was no different under Ronald Koeman at Everton. It didn't work out for the Dutchman, and it hasn't worked out for Rooney yet.

Wayne Rooney has already become a conundrum for Everton after joining them in the summer

His former manager Jose Mourinho insisted that he had to be played in the forward positions

He is Everton's top scorer but has struggled to help a side who have not impressed

Against Chelsea on Wednesday, Rooney was used as a central striker, just as he was against Brighton.

Yet at the Amex Stadium he repeatedly dropped deep, leaving him stepping on the toes of Gylfi Sigurdsson, who saw less of the ball as a result. Even when he did, the Iceland international was left with few options ahead of him, because Rooney was stood by his side. It was congested.

Everton spent the summer piling up potential No 10s, from £45million Sigurdsson to £23.6m Davy Klaassen to Rooney, with Ross Barkley also available.

Rooney has been busy – being used as a lone striker, on the right of a front three, on the left, in midfield. He is their top scorer – with four league goals – but it remains to be seen what the new manager will do.

Rooney has managed to score a series of important goals, including against Brighton

Everton's play under Koeman was slammed for its slowness and Rooney, despite his quality in keeping possession, did little to speed it up when used in midfield.

As a striker, his positional indiscipline leaves the struggling Premier League side with no focal point in the final third.

David Unsworth played his players in their correct positions at Chelsea in the Carabao Cup.

That included Rooney as a lone striker, though their consolation goal came via work by Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Oumar Niasse. As they head to Leicester on Sunday, the caretaker has a decision to make over how to deploy the 32-year-old, if at all.

He has often found himself occupying the same positions as No 10 Gylfi Sigurdsson

Rooney returned with 'unfinished business' and Everton, under major shareholder Farhad Moshiri, are ambitious. Was bringing him back the right move?

He is having a limited effect, and his starting spot in the team is not secure, despite having been described as the man who could help Everton towards Europe.

A comparison between this and last season shows a dip. Rooney's sprints per game have gone from 52.2 to 47.2. His chances created have fallen from 2.1 to 1.7. 

His distance covered is down, he is producing fewer passes, and he has yet to register an assist with no striker to set up.

To his credit, three of his four Premier League goals have made a difference. A winner against Stoke on his second league debut for Everton. A strike that led to a 1-1 draw with Manchester City. A penalty against Brighton to pinch a point.

The odd one out came in the 5-2 loss to Arsenal which cost Koeman his job.

His only goal that did not earn points was against Arsenal - Ronald Koeman's last game

Rooney got used to being shoehorned into positions by Manchester United and England. 

Mourinho spoke about his conundrum in 2016: 'Maybe he is not a striker anymore, but he will never be a No 6 for me, he will never be someone playing 60 metres from the goal.

'You can tell me his passes are amazing – yes, they are amazing, but my passes are also amazing without pressure. There are many players with a great pass, but there aren't as many players who can put the ball in the net.

'For me he will be a No 9, a 10, or a 9-and-a-half, but not a 6 or even an 8.'

This has been the Wayne Rooney question for a good while, though the answer still seems a way off.