Former Man United and England hero Wayne Rooney signed a huge contract to take up this next role
Wayne Rooney looks on
Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney(Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney officially starts his new punditry role for the BBC tonight.
Rooney reportedly signed an £800,000-a-year contract to become a regular on Match of the Day at the start of the 2025/26 campaign. He joins the broadcaster at a time huge change as fellow former England hero Gary Lineker has stepped down from presenting the show after 26 years.
Taking up presenting duties are the trio of Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates, who will rotate between different shows alongside different combinations of pundits.
Rooney is now set to appear as a pundit for the first time since signing his contract tonight. The United legend is pencilled in to provide analysis of highlights Tottenham Hotspur's UEFA Super Cup meeting with Paris Saint-Germain.
He will sit alongside Cates, making her Match of the Day bow, as well as former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy and French reporter Julien Laurens.
The programme is scheduled to begin at 10:40pm on BBC One on Wednesday.
Rooney's venture into punditry marks a switch in his post-playing days. He had called time on a 19-year career, of which he had spent 13 years at Old Trafford, in 2021.
With his reputation as a five-time Premier League champion, a Champions League winner and England's all-time leading goalscorer at the time, the 39-year-old then stepped directly into management with Derby County.
Rooney resigned at the end of the 2021/22 campaign with the club relegated to League One, having incurred a 21-point deduction for entering administration.
This was followed by one-and-a-half seasons at DC United in the United States' MLS, but failure to reach the play-offs twice meant they agreed to part ways.
Almost one year later, Rooney returned to management with Birmingham City. He was sacked after 15 matches, winning only twice in that period. The club went on to suffer relegation to League One at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.
And most recently the Liverpudlian was in the dugout for Plymouth Argyle at the start of last season. With the Pilgrims at the bottom of the Championship on New Year's Eve, they mutually agreed to split and that club were eventually relegated too.
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