Wayne Rooney gets paid! Man Utd legend receives massive tax rebate to increase net worth to £170m

This latest financial development follows Rooney's past disputes involving HMRC over the years. The recent payout is not connected to the film financing schemes, such as Ingenious, in which he and other celebrities previously invested, resulting in large tax bills. 

The closure of the image rights firm has simply resulted in a final accounting and the return of a tax rebate to the former footballer. The incident highlights the complexities surrounding professional athletes' earnings and tax affairs, with companies often set up to manage a player's image rights separately from their football wages, including deals with global brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola and EA Sports, according to a report from The Sun. 

Rooney has previously faced intense scrutiny and disputes with the taxman, this recent rebate is a direct result of the company's winding up. It adds to his considerable net worth, which has grown through his playing career and subsequent ventures, believed to be as much as £170 million ($223.7m).

Following Liverpool's recent Champions League victory over Real Madrid, Virgil van Dijk confronted pundit Rooney, who had publicly questioned his leadership. The dispute began with Rooney criticising Van Dijk's performance on his podcast, claiming "body language tells you a lot" and suggesting the Reds captain and talisman Mo Salah had "downed tools" after signing new contracts. Van Dijk initially called the comments "lazy criticism," adding, "I didn't hear him last year" when Liverpool were successful. 

In their TV confrontation, the Netherlands international took exception to Rooney's suggestion that he had become complacent after his new deal, stating, "I think that was a bit... but that's my personal opinion and we move on". Rooney defended his analysis, saying, "I think what I've said was fair" and that a team losing multiple games would naturally draw questions about its captain. While Rooney later conceded on his podcast that his comments might have been "a bit unfair because I don't know him that well as a person," he stood by his assessment of Van Dijk's on-field performance, saying, "from a performance point of view, I think I was speaking what I felt and what I was seeing, and I felt I was right". 

The encounter culminated in a handshake, but underscored the tension between modern players and pundits.

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Rooney also faced-up to Liverpool boss Slot and the Dutch boss was asked whether the mood has lifted on Merseyside, to which he responded: "It's clear that it’s nicer when you win games than when you lose games as a manager. Am I right or am I wrong heh?" When making the comment, Slot turned sideways to look at Rooney with a big smile on his face. 

Rooney has a twice-weekly BBC podcast, The Wayne Rooney Show, and occasionally appears as a pundit on the Match of the Day and Amazon Prime's Champions League coverage. He is also scheduled to be part of the BBC's coverage for the 2026 World Cup which kicks off next July, hosted in the USA, Canada and Mexico.