With emotions still running high, Rooney sought to clear his head when visiting the Wing’s restaurant - which has been a popular eatery for Premier League footballers down the years. He had no idea that a sporting GOAT was about to put a smile on his face.
Rooney said of bumping into Maradona: “It was that evening actually - I went to Wing's restaurant in my tracksuit, and Maradona was in there. I got a picture with him and stuff. He had a full suit on, and tie, and then he gave me his tie. It was a bit weird, he took his tie off, put it on me, my club tracksuit still on.”
Maradona had been in attendance to watch United face Real Madrid. He was a regular visitor to Manchester around that time as his daughter Giannina was married to City’s Argentina international striker Sergio Aguero.
With Rooney being cut from similar cloth to Maradona, the 1986 World Cup winner was always full of praise for the stocky United star - who never gave anything less than 100 per cent when taking to the field.
After seeing Rooney make his senior debut for England at 17 years of age, in a Euro 2004 qualifier against Macedonia, Maradona said of a mercurial talent: “'They don't come along that often, players who can go on and become real world-class star.”
Rooney idolised Maradona after watching videos of him in action growing up and referred to the enigmatic South American as “the best” when posting an emotional online tribute following news of his death in 2020.