Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney takes son Kai to training sessions - with Manchester City

Wayne Rooney is taking his son, Kai, to training sessions with Manchester United's bitter rivals 

George Cooper
Friday 16 December 2016 08:23 EST
Comments
Wayne Rooney and his son, Kai
Wayne Rooney and his son, Kai

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney is taking his son, Kai, to training sessions with rivals Manchester City.

Until recently, the seven-year-old had been playing with United’s development team but is now spending time under the guidance of United’s city rivals.

Now, however, Rooney is accompanying his eldest son to the City Football Academy. The Daily Mail reports Rooney regularly watches Kai from the sidelines, accompanied by his grandfather, Wayne snr.

The paper quotes a Manchester City coach as saying: "Most of them want to be a No 9, but it's all about them enjoying their football at this age.

"You are not looking to see if they are a centre forward or a holding midfielder, but can they play with their head up? Are they two footed? How do they pass? Can they listen and learn?

"Our people are trained on what to look out for, although it’s too early to find out if you have the next Rooney or Steven Gerrard.

"But that doesn’t stop clubs from moving quickly to invite young boys to come and train and use their facilities.

"Every club is looking for young English talent. I recently lost two players to bigger clubs. It’s a fact of life at this age."

Premier League clubs cannot officially sign players until the age of nine.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in