Ready to feel old? Wayne Rooney's son Kai has made his competitive debut at Old Trafford

Martin Macdonald

24 Jan 2026 06:30 CST
3 min read

Wayne Rooney's son Kai has played in a competitive fixture at Old Trafford for the first time in his young career.

The 16-year-old currently features for Manchester United Under 18s, managed by Wayne's former Man Utd team-mate Darren Fletcher.

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The Red Devils took on Derby in a FA Young Cup fixture at the Theatre of Dreams on Friday evening and eventually ran out 2-1 winners in extra-time after the deadlock couldn't be broken in the 90 minutes.

Kai Rooney is playing at Old Trafford for the first time.

Great moment for mum and dad, who are here watching on #mufc pic.twitter.com/UHtHHZ9WaE
— Nathan Salt (@NathSalt1) January 23, 2026

Kai came off the bench in extra-time and was greeted with chants of "Rooney! Rooney!" - the same chant his father was serenaded with by the Old Trafford faithful for so many years.

Though he played a small part in the proceedings, the appearance of Kai drew attention due to his famous mum and dad as fans are undoubtedly keen to draw comparisons to Wayne.

Kai joined the Man Utd academy in 2020 and has been steadily moving up the ranks to eventually feature for the Under-18s side despite being just 16.

Wayne's wife and Kai's mother Coleen previously admitted during her appearance on 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here' that Rooney senior's fame and attention actually led to him stop watching Kai play for a period.

"How do you say to all of these kids: 'Go away, I’m watching my son?'" she admitted.

"Adults, it’s different, you could speak to them, so he [Kai] just said: 'Oh, dad there’s no point you coming because you don’t even watch me play anyway'."

Rooney himself previously revealed that he takes backseat when it comes to Kai's development due to the high-level coaching the youngster receives at United.

"He has great coaches at Manchester United, so I take a stand-off approach," he told the BBC.

"I speak to him, but for me it's all about his mentality and his mindset, to make sure he keeps enjoying it - that's the main thing for me."

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