Gary Neville reveals the bizarre reason Wayne Rooney has the word 'then' tattooed on his back

Gary Neville has revealed the bizarre reason why Wayne Rooney has the word ‘then’ tattooed on his back.

Neville spent many successful years alongside Rooney in the Manchester United team as the Red Devils dominated English football under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Stick to Football podcast, Neville revealed why Rooney has the word ‘then’ tattooed on his back. You can watch the footage below.

Neville said: “Wazza had ‘then’ on his back, T-H-E-N. Have you heard that story?

“What was that? What’s that?, he said ‘Me and my mate used to have a saying when we were younger, Okay then.’”

After fellow presenter Ian Wright burst into laughter, Neville added: “And his mate had ‘Okay’ and he had ‘Then’.”

Wright then said: “It means something to him.”

Recently, Neville compared Arsenal star Gabriel Jesus to Rooney, saying: “I don’t see Jesus, Martinelli and Saka linking up. When Saka is trying to cross to the back post, he is smashing it across. I don’t see Martinelli charging in at the back post. There’s quite a lot to work on.

“I’ve found myself talking at the end of many Arsenal games this season about whether Jesus and [Eddie] Nketiah are No.1 and No.2 strikers in a Premier League title-winning side, or if they are actually No.2 and No.3 strikers.”

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Neville continued: “I love Jesus. I really love him, honestly. I think he’s a brilliant player and I would have loved to play with him. He’s got a bit of Wayne Rooney in him, a bit of Carlos Tevez in him. But he hasn’t got that instinct in front of goal. Sometimes, he is everywhere where you don’t want him.”

Rooney made a total of 559 appearances for United across all competitions, scoring 253 goals.

After retiring from professional football, Rooney went into management and has led the likes of Derby County, DC United.

Most recently, the former striker was the manager of Championship side Birmingham City but was sacked after just 15 games due to poor performances.

Gary Neville was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.