Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney has revealed that he was barely able to see his children during his time in management. The Premier League legend retired from football in 2021 after a glittering career at the elite level and like many retiring players, moved into management.
His last playing role was with Derby County, with whom he became the permanent boss after hanging up his boots. Following his time with the Rams, Rooney managed at DC United in America for just over a year before taking on roles back in England. His time with Birmingham City was more short-lived, getting sacked in early 2024 before taking on his most recent job with Plymouth Arygle, ending later that year.
"I didn't see my kids for months and months when I was living in DC," revealed Rooney on The Smith Bros podcast. "At Plymouth, I lived there by myself - you'd see them if you were lucky, once a week. Going into the punditry work, it's not as 'every day'. Obviously with match days or weekends (it's busier), Amazon's every Tuesday, fly out Monday, fly home Wednesday, which is three days.
"I just do my podcast from home. I've got more time now to go and watch my kids play and be around that more so I'm happy with it."
Since the Plymouth job concluded, Rooney has moved into punditry and is working for a variety of broadcasters, as well as having his own show for the BBC - The Wayne Rooney Show. Like the Evertonian explained, punditry allows him to spend more time with his children now, despite maintaining a busy working life in media.
Rooney has four children with wife Colleen - who was runner-up in the 2024 edition of I'm A Celeb. Kai plays for the United academy and is 16, carving out his own career in football. There's also Klay, Kit and Cass, with Kit the only one not involved in football anymore. Klay is part of the United set-up like brother Kai while Cass is in the Everton academy.
Also on the podcast, Rooney spoke about Kai and his journey. The eldest son of Colleen and Rooney secured a boot deal aged just 12 in 2022 but he is not allowed to wear them at United due to club policy.
Rooney explained: "He’s obviously with Puma but when he plays for the Manchester United U16s, something which I really like is he can’t wear his Puma boots. All the academy have to wear the same boots. They do it because there’s people from areas where they can’t afford certain boots so I think it’s really good. But he’s played for the U18s a few times and he can then wear his Puma boots. He’s doing well to be fair to him."