Wayne Rooney is a Manchester United and Premier League icon and now has his son Kai following in his footsteps at Old Trafford
Wayne Rooney during the UEFA Champions League 2024/2025 semifinal between FC Internazionale and FC Barcelona at San Siro stadium. Milan.
Wayne Rooney is an icon of English football(Image: Elianton/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
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Wayne Rooney will go down in English football history as one of the greatest players to ever grace the pitch.
The all-time leading goalscorer for Manchester United with 253 in all competitions and the third in the Premier League with 208 goals - behind Alan Shearer with 260 and Harry Kane with 213 - Rooney made 559 appearances for the club.
The forward won five league titles, a Champions League, the Europa League and a host of domestic cup titles with United and was also a crucial part of England's golden generation in international football.
His impact on the Premier League is one that will forever be admired and he now spends his time happily retired with his family. Rooney did dip into management after hanging up his boots, working at Derby County, DC United, Birmingham City and most recently, Plymouth Argyle.
Here, dives into the world of Wayne, including his incredible net worth and his United ban enforced by his academy-star son Kai.
Wayne Rooney's net worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Rooney is estimated to have a whopping net worth of £126million ($170m). This number comes from his various lucrative salaries as a player, where he was said to be earning almost £20m ($26m) annually at one point.
The former United star also landed various endorsement deals during his career and in retirement, including with Nike, Ford, Coca-Cola and Nokia.
Medical condition that causes punditry struggles
Former England player Wayne Rooney looks on prior to the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD7 match between FC Internazionale Milano and Arsenal FC at Stadio San Siro on January 20, 2026 in Milan, Italy.
Wayne Rooney struggles with a medical condition in his ear(Image: Chris Ricco - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
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Rooney revealed that he is deaf in his left ear after struggling with earpieces during a recent appearance on Match of the Day. The ex-forward was on hand to celebrate his former club's emphatic derby day win over Manchester City and made the admission while discussing the latest scores around the country.
The 40-year-old gestured to his right ear as a BBC staff member fit the listening device. He said: "Can I do it in this ear? I used to close the talkback.
"The problem is I'm deaf in my left ear. So when it's too loud I struggle to hear what Kelly Cates [MOTD presenter] or whoever is saying."
Macclesfield Town manager John Rooney (L) is interviewed by his brother, former England star Wayne Rooney (R), before the start of the English FA Cup third round football match between Macclesfield Town and Crystal Palace at Leasing.com Stadium, Moss Rose in Macclesfield, northern England on January 10, 2026.
Wayne was on hand to congratulate his brother for his massive FA Cup achievement(Image: Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)
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The BBC would no doubt have been happy to oblige, after hiring Rooney as a regular pundit at the beginning of the season and handing him his own show.
Mark Chapman cheekily introduced Wayne as 'John Rooney's brother', who famously secured a 1-0 FA Cup win with non-league side Macclesfield over the reigning champions, Crystal Palace.
United ban enforced by son Kai
Rooney has been barred from returning to United to watch son and current academy star Kai due to the amount of media and public attention the Premier League icon receives. The teenager is currently plying his trade for United's youth set-up, making appearances for the U18s and signing a boot deal with Puma since joining the academy at just 11 years old.
Manchester United's Kai Rooney in action during the Under 18 Premier League between Manchester United U18s and Middlesbrough U18s at Carrington Training Ground on August 23, 2025 in Manchester, England.
Kai Rooney barred his own dad from football games(Image: Anthony Devlin/Manchester United via Getty Images)
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However, Wayne has been banned from relishing in his son's talents from the touchline as he would be swarmed constantly by fans looking for autographs and pictures. Kai's mum Coleen appeared on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2024 to discuss the issues her family faces during public appearances.
She said: "That's the thing with kids I think, it's hard to go on days out. Kai told Wayne to stop coming to football games, when he played grassroots tournaments and stuff because he used to get swarmed and he couldn't even watch the game.
"How do you say to all of these kids, 'Go away, I'm watching my son?' Adults, it's different, you could speak to them.
Kai Rooney and Wayne Rooney during Nordoff Robbins' Legends of Football at JW Marriott Grosvenor House on October 07, 2024 in London, England.
The family have had to deal with privacy issues in the past(Image: JMEnternational/Getty Images)
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"So he (Kai) just said, 'Oh, dad there's no point you coming because you don't even watch me play anyway.' Which is sad, but it can't be helped anyway. At the same time, the fans help you along the way and get you where you are."
Despite this ban, Wayne still enjoys imparting valuable wisdom onto his sons during training sessions at home. Speaking on his podcast, The Wayne Rooney Show, the 40-year-old said: "I'm quite lucky where I live as I've got a little pitch there and when the kids say, 'We're coming on the pitch', all they're gonna do is tie the balls on the top corner.
"So when I say to them when I was younger, I remember setting a little square to practise passing into it and just playing off the wall. So I'm very similar, [I tell them], 'You need to work on your speed, you need to work on your technique and control.' Otherwise, you go out and you're just like, 'Watch me hit the ball in the top corner.'"