PAUL CLEMENT TURNS DOWN ENGLAND ROLE TO COMMIT TO BAYERN MUNICH

Bayern Munich assistant manager Paul Clement has confirmed he turned down a coaching role with England under new boss Sam Allardyce.

The 44-year-old is working alongside Carlo Ancelotti at the Bundesliga champions, after being sacked as Derby County boss earlier this year.

The reports suggest that Clement had been earmarked for a role in Allardyce's new backroom team on a job-share basis.

But on Twitter he stated that he intended to "concentrate solely" on Bayern.

"And following recent media reports I would like to clarify the situation with regards to a possible role with the England national team," he said on Tuesday.

"After consultation between FC Bayern, the [English] Football Association and myself, it was decided that it is in the best interests of everyone involved for me to concentrate solely on the job I have in Munich.

"I would like to wish success to Sam, the FA and the England team."

Clement linked up again with Ancelotti in June, having previously worked with him at Chelsea, Real Madrid and Paris St-Germain.

Wayne Rooney is marking 12 years at Manchester United with a testimonial match against his former club Everton. But, considering the traditional aim of testimonials has been to raise much-needed money for players as they leave the game, why do we still need them in the era of multi-millionaire footballers?

It may seem hard to believe now but footballers haven't always been super-rich, in fact many today still aren't.

The aim of the testimonial, traditionally held after a player had spent 10 years at a club and was therefore likely to be coming to the end of their career, was to raise some money for them for life after retirement from the pitch.

While for players in the lower leagues that is still one purpose of such matches, as the economy of the top leagues has changed so too has the reasoning for testimonials.

"Testimonials are no longer really about earning a lump sum for the player," said Trizia Fiorellino, chairman of the Chelsea Supporters' Group.

"Now it's more important to the fans than to the players as it is a chance to show our appreciation for what a player has done for us and the club.

"The relationship between fans and players has changed, they are no longer the working class heroes who you would see in the pub after a game, now they are multi-millionaires and disconnected from the fans' lives so this is a chance for us to be bit more personal with them."