Wayne Rooney breaks son Kai’s golden rule at Man United but left disappointed

Wayne Rooney went against his promise to his son Kai by attending his game for Manchester United’s Under-18s on Wednesday.

The Red Devils legend sat in the stands to watch the team in their Youth Cup quarter-final against Sunderland, which they won 3-2.

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And that’s something he had supposedly vowed never to do when Kai was involved after the teenager complained.

Rooney, an English football icon, always attracts fans whenever he attends a match, taking the attention away from the game itself.

His wife, Coleen, revealed in 2024: “Kai told Wayne to stop coming to 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. 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.”

Despite the issues in the past, Rooney clearly felt he would be able to watch this Youth Cup game in person at Old Trafford.

And he would have been pleased with the overall outcome, as Man United beat Sunderland 3-2 to progress in the Youth Cup.

However, the United icon won’t have been all happy, considering Kai didn’t manage to get on the pitch at all in the game.

Rooney Jr. remained an unused substitute for the fixture, in which Chido Obi, Noah Ajayi and Junior Brown scored.

The U18 side will now face Crystal Palace in the semi-finals of the competition, with Man City potentially waiting in the final.

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Kai Rooney’s rise

Rooney’s son has been part of the Man United set-up since 2020 and is already tipped to be a future star just like his dad.

Kai was offered a bumper new deal by the club in February, having jumped up age groups to play in the U18s at 16 years old.

His form was rewarded with a one-year scholarship at the club, which, once it’s completed, will reportedly switch to a three-year contract worth a huge £50,000 a year on top of an annual signing-on fee.

After starring in other youth teams, his move to the U18s has signified just how highly rated Rooney is at United.

Since his jump up to that level, he’s scored once and assisted once in the U18 Premier League.

He most recently netted in the Premier League Cup for the Reds Devils against West Ham earlier in March.

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Enforced change

Speaking in February, Rooney revealed a change that his son recently had to make to his game to continue to thrive.

He said on the Wayne Rooney Show, via The Mirror: “The standard of English players has increased massively.

“I just think it’s purely because they don’t want to play number nine.

“The way the game is tactically. If you look worldwide, there’s not many number nines.

“So it’s not just a problem in England, it’s a problem throughout the world in number nines.”

“He [Kai] has gone to the right,” he then explained. “Left-footed, coming in off the right.”