'What am I doing?' - Wayne Rooney reveals water park meeting with transfer target in Championship job that saw Man Utd legend get stuck in 'skintight top'

Instead of sitting down in a boardroom or a restaurant, Rooney found himself trying to talk up Derby County while dripping wet from the slides. Rooney explained that he had just come off one of the rides before meeting the player. In an effort to avoid sunburn, he wore a skin-hugging swim shirt, but it backfired spectacularly.  

Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show, Rooney recalled: "I met a player at the Atlantic water park in Dubai [Aquaventure World].  I had a meeting with him to try and get him to sign for Derby. He was in Dubai, so I said, 'I'll meet you there.' So we've met there and I actually had a skintight wet top on where I'd been on the slides. "Because if I don't have a top on, I'll just burn.

"So it's like one of them swim tops with like a man on a surfboard or something on the front of it. It was sticking to me and I was just like, 'What am I doing?' It was sticking to my belly as well and I'm trying to pull it out."  

The image of a Champions League winner awkwardly tugging at a wet shirt while discussing Championship survival paints a scene far removed from the glamorous transfer sagas of football’s elite. Despite the comedy of the situation, the big question remains: Did Rooney’s water park gamble work? Sadly for him, it didn’t. The player in question turned down Derby’s advances, leaving Rooney with nothing but the memory of a humiliating transfer pitch.

But even his co-host, Kelly Somers, couldn’t fathom why the location of choice was a water park rather than a restaurant or hotel. Pressed on it, Rooney shrugged: "I don't know actually, I phoned him up and he was actually at the water park the day I was going, so I just said, 'I'll meet you there.'"  

Rooney’s spell in charge of Derby ended in frustration after failing to save them from relegation during the 2021/22 Championship season. Soon after, he took charge of MLS outfit DC United, continuing his managerial apprenticeship overseas. In October 2023, he returned to English football with Birmingham City, though the stint was short-lived as poor results saw him dismissed before the season was over.   

He was back again for the 2024/25 campaign with Plymouth Argyle, but once more, success proved elusive. Rooney departed the club in December 2024 after managing just five wins in 25 matches. The former striker now works as a TV pundit.