Wayne Rooney slams critics who claim he is 'uneducated' as he reveals 'conscious effort' to learn during time at Everton and Man Utd

Discussing what he considers the biggest misconception about him on new BBC production The Wayne Rooney Show, the ex-Manchester United captain said he has gone to great lengths to learn about subjects that would help him bond and communicate with teammates during his career.

Rooney's childhood was dominated by making the most of his enormous football talent and he was on the fringes of the Everton first-team as a 16-year-old. He made Everton's matchday squad for the first time in April 2002, right as his schooling should have been reaching its conclusion with GCSEs, but the teen prodigy didn't sit exams and left school without any qualifications. Not that it mattered, because he went on to make almost 900 career appearances over the subsequent 19 years and has amassed a personal fortune estimated to be worth £170 million ($230m).

"It's no secret, I didn't even take GCSEs. I didn’t sit any. People assume, because of that, that I'm not educated, which I think is really wrong. I’ve actually made a conscious effort, when I was at Everton and then joined Manchester United, to educate myself on a lot of different things," Rooney explained.

"Black history, on religion," were examples of topics. "The reason I've done that was I wanted to be able to hold conversations with my teammates who are maybe from different backgrounds. Obviously over the last years it's come out more that people should educate themselves more. That's something I'd done to help me with my teammate and understand how they've been brought up, what life they’ve been brought up on. I think that's probably something which people don't understand [about me]."

Rooney has the words 'Just enough education to perform' tattooed on him. But it is a nod to the Stereophonics album with that title, Rooney's favourite band who performed at his 2008 wedding as a gift from wife Coleen.

After failed spells with Birmingham City and Plymouth Argyle, Rooney remains keen on working in football management again in the future. But, after eight months without a club since leaving the latter, his post-playing career appears to be moving deeper into punditry and media, a regular guest on productions by The Overlap network and now with his new BBC deal.