Former England captain Wayne Rooney has called on his new club Derby County to re-consider their request for players to take a 50 per cent pay cut.

The Championships side's board of directors are hoping the squad will accept their salaries being halved in a bid to help the club through the coronavirus crisis.

However, The Sun have reported that Rooney, who only officially joined The Rams in January, is spearheading a movement in the dressing room to ensure their wages are not slashed by such a sizeable amount.

The Professional Footballers' Association have already gone on record as saying they do not feel players should take wage reductions because the tax implications are 'detrimental to the NHS'.

Rooney and co are hoping to re-negotiate the size of their wage deferral, with the PFA recommending a 25 per cent reduction.

Earlier this month, England's all-time leading goalscorer said: “The first thing to say is that if Derby County needed me to take a pay cut to save the club I would understand and look to support them in whatever way I could.”