‘Can dad stay at home?’ - Coleen Rooney reveals sad request from children as Man Utd & England legend Wayne proves to be a distraction for Kai & Co at youth matches

Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney is hoping to see his four sons tread a similar path to the one that made him a global superstar. Eldest son Kai is showing plenty of promise as another goalscorer in the Red Devils’ academy system.

Wayne is, however, not able to take in as many games as he would like. He has been busy with playing and coaching careers for the most part, but is also unable to blend into the background whenever paying a visit to grassroots fixtures.

Wife Coleen has told The Irish Independent of raising her children in the public eye: “I’ve got to make them aware that with social media, things can come back around again. My eldest is 15, he’s at a football academy [in Manchester] where they have social media workshops. They’re told if they put anything online now and you’re in the public eye, it can affect you later on.

“But I think our kids grew up with it. There’s certain things that it does affect – there were times when the kids have said, when Wayne was playing, ‘Can Dad stay at home?’ because we didn’t get around the theme park. Or, ‘He’s not watching me play football because he’s being asked for selfies.’

“He’s grateful for fans too, so it’s a hard situation. We’ve obviously made them aware of things as they’ve got older and started to understand things.”

Wayne currently has plenty of spare time on his hands, having flopped in his latest managerial role at Plymouth, but may be prevented from watching his children in action. He will get ample opportunity to do just that if any of the Rooney boys go on to make the professional ranks.