Bold instruction for Wayne as Kai Rooney attempts to build his own legacy at Man United

Wayne Rooney’s incredible Manchester United career came to an end in 2017 after a stunning 13-year period that resulted in him leaving Old Trafford as the club’s all-time record goal scorer.

The England man will no doubt go down as one of United’s greatest ever players, and he is now guiding his eldest son through the process he successfully navigated as a young boy breaking into the first team at Everton.

Kai Rooney is on the books at United and is impressing at the youth levels as he attempts to forge his own career in the game.

Difficult decisions for the Rooney family

Despite Rooney‘s standing in the game, and at United, the former striker is adamant that if Kai does make it at the top level, it will be purely down to his own talent and not the legendary status of his father.

As reported by the Manchester Evening News, speaking on his docuseries ‘The Real Rooneys’, Wayne spoke on Kai’s development at United and underlined the importance of doing things his way.

“Kai wants his own legacy, and I’ll be there to support him. What I don’t want is him to get a scholarship or get a contract because of me.

I want it to be because of him in his own right. It’s something he’s wanted for a long time, so (I’ll) be proud, really proud of him to get a scholarship,” he said.

Kai has gone on to get his scholarship at Old Trafford and will be desperate to make his name in the first team squad in the coming years.

Given the JJ Gabriel debacle, there is a real opportunity for another youngster to step into the shoes as the brightest young talent at the club, and Kai will no doubt have his eyes on taking on that mantle.

Ban for Dad

Whilst there are clear upsides to having Wayne Rooney as your chief guide and mentor, the series also revealed the challenges of having so much spotlight on the family.

Wayne’s wife Colleen revealed the attention Rooney gets attending Kai’s matches led to him missing some games to relieve some pressure off his son’s shoulders.

“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. At the same time, the fans help you along the way and get you where you are,” she said.

However, Rooney has since been spotted at some of Kai’s games with the support of the family and the whole United fanbase behind him.

Given Wayne’s legacy, Kai will undoubtedly come under more scrutiny than the majority of his teammates at youth level but if he can manage his way through the testing upcoming years, it will be a good indicator of just what he can achieve.

It remains to be seen just how far Kai can go in the game, but if he goes on to achieve anything like what his dad did at United, the Theatre of Dreams will play host to one of football’s biggest fairytale stories.

Featured image Richard Heathcote via Getty Images