Kai Rooney Poised for Old Trafford Debut At 15 In Landmark Moment
Wayne Rooney's eldest son Kai could make his Old Trafford debut at the age of 15 after a major change at Manchester United.
Kai Rooney joined his dad's former club as an 11-year-old and has progressed through the ranks to become part of the United Under 18 set-up.
A forward who can also play on the wing, Rooney Jr made his debut for Darren Fletcher's side as a 15-year-old back in August against Everton - the boyhood club whom his father represented in two different spells.
The youngster has been fast-tracked but in September, after just two appearances, he suffered a foot injury which led to a protective boot and crutches being required and putting Rooney on the sidelines for a period.
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He has returned to training on grass since then and is working towards returning to full fitness.
And Kai will no doubt be desperate to be in contention for the FA Youth Cup third round clash with Peterborough next month.
The two sides will meet on Tuesday 9 December and it could be a very first Old Trafford appearance for Rooney and many of his teammates - including the likes of Shea Lacey and JJ Gabriel.
According to the Daily Mail, cost-cutting measures from Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos last season meant that the team were not allowed to play at the Theatre of Dreams for Youth Cup games against Preston, Coventry and Chelsea.
Instead they played home games at Leigh Sports Village and the decision to do so for the fifth round tie is said to have saved United £8,000.
However, the ruling is changing this season and the visit of Peterborough is being pencilled in for United's iconic stadium - a ground where Rooney scored 135 goals for the Red Devils.
The United youngsters reached the semi-finals of the competition last season before losing on penalties to Aston Villa.
United have won the competition 11 times - most recently in 2022 - making them the most successful club in FA Youth Cup history.
Rooney told not to watch his son play
United's record goalscorer is proud of his son's development as a player and tries to watch him whenever he can. However, Kai actually told him not stop coming as at grassroots games Rooney would be bombarded with kids asking for pictures and autographs.
"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," wife Coleen revealed in her appearance on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here.
"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."
With this game at Old Trafford and various boxes, it could work out perfectly for Rooney to enjoy his son playing but without being amongst everybody else.
On his BBC podcast 'The Wayne Rooney Show', Rooney acknowledged that Kai gets a "different attention" to his teammates but "handles it really well."
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Topics: Wayne Rooney, Man Utd
Josh Lawless