The many faces of Wayne Rooney: From the fresh-faced teenager who took the world by storm to his remarkable Disney glow-up - but football legend insists he has NOT been on the weight-loss jabs

· DailyMail

The Manchester United icon has been involved in football for more than 20 years now. He started off as a teenager with high hopes at Everton, and is now one of the faces of football analysis.

Wayne Rooney : hotshot, superstar, manager, pundit. And a husband, and a father.

The Manchester United icon has been involved in football for more than 20 years now. He started off as a teenager with high hopes at Everton , and is now one of the faces of football analysis on the tele.

After initially enduring some growing pains in his punditry career, the 40-year-old came into his own over the World Cup, and is now one of BBC 's top dogs on Match of the Day and has a family documentary – The Real Rooneys – with wife Coleen and his family.

And, as he continues on his punditry journey, his looks appear to change too. Fans have been stunned by his recent weight loss and, dare we say it, glow up – which has included nose surgery.

Rooney went under the knife over the summer post-World Cup, correcting breathing difficulties he had endured from two separate injuries in his playing career.

'It's actually really lucky I've got no black eyes, but I've still got two plastic tubes up my nose, which are coming out very soon,' Rooney shared last month.

> 'I can't wait for them to come out. So, they've cut here (under the nostrils). So, that's all stitched, a little bit uncomfortable.'

That may be now, but there were no thoughts of plastic surgery when he was a teenager with a dream.

After joining Everton at the age of nine, a fresh-faced Rooney would make his first team debut – and announce himself to the world – at 16. The Toffees, responsible for ending Arsenal's 30-game unbeaten run in October 2002, secured a last-minute winner against the Gunners through Rooney, and he was first team regular thereafter.

It seems a long time ago now – a youthful-looking Rooney suited up after signing his new deal with the Toffees in January 2003 – but it wasn't long until he was on his way to Manchester United.

He secured a £27million move to United in the summer of 2004, picking up around £50,000-a-week.

It was there he would really kick on. He won the Golden Boy trophy in 2004, before eventually winning his first Premier League title in the 2006-07 season.

He had, by that point, become a household name, forming a love-hate relationship with a similarly babyfaced Cristiano Ronaldo, who was his team-mate at club level but arch enemy on the international stage.

Rooney was in somewhat of a bulking phase. Turning from boy to man. Naturally, with success on the field came public interest off it too, and his wife, Coleen, entered the limelight.

Wayne and Coleen had been together since they were children, with the latter catapulted into WAG stardom due to Rooney's success. The couple would attend events together, and had their first child, Kai, in 2009.

By that point, it became clear Rooney's hair was thinning, and a photo of the forward and United manager Sir Alex Ferguson in April 2011 highlighted that perhaps more than had been done before.

Rooney had tried the bald look – famously turning out for England at the 2010 World Cup with a shaved head. We'll ignore the outburst at Three Lions fans after the 0-0 with Algeria.

It was in 2011 that Rooney had his now-infamous hair transplant, joking that he had gone bald at a young age. He was 25 at the time.

Coleen, meanwhile, shared: 'Hiya!! Yes waynes had his hair done! His own decision not me asking him, like alot are saying!!'

Rooney rocked up to the 2011-12 season with a full head of hair and stern hairline again.

'I was going bald at 25 why not,' he posted on Twitter. 'I'm delighted with the result.'

He would also add that the area was 'a bit bruised and swollen' and joked: 'Anyone recommend any good hair gel. Haha.'

Things didn't totally work out. Just two years later, in June 2013, he had a second transplant. Harley Street Hair Clinic, who carried out the procedure, said the plan was also to carry out work for a second time, rather than it being a situation of their work failing.

Wayne stayed quiet on that one, but Coleen said on Twitter: 'That's what happens!! It falls out before it grows back!!'

In 2011, for what it's worth, she said: 'Hiya!! Yes waynes had his hair done! His own decision not me asking him, like alot are saying!! Pleased for him and it will look great x.'

By 2013, at 27, Rooney was a prolific winner. He had lifted the Premier League five times, the Champions League, the Club World Cup and three League Cups.

Having first captained England in 2009, he became the permanent skipper in August 2014.

He was rocking the beard to go with the new trim, and, in his latter years at United, often went for a cleaner look with shorter hair.

By 2017, though, it was clear his time at United was coming to an end. He had been less effective in forward positions, often dropping deeper into attacking or even central midfield roles, and was receiving a lot of criticism.

He had already nearly left United at the turn of the decade, and did leave in the summer of 2017. He exited Old Trafford as the club's all-time top goal scorer with 253 goals in 559 games, a feat he achieved earlier in the year.

Having won the Europa League in his final game with United, he would return to Everton in a move that split fan opinion. Previous visits to Goodison Park as a United player had been mixed, but supporters were largely on board with his return.

Now 31, Rooney was clearly getting towards the end of his career, but still a capable player. He netted a hat-trick against West Ham in November 2017, but left Everton after just a year to move to America.

He signed a three-and-a-half-year deal at DC United, but served just 18 months of that before returning to England with Championship side Derby County in a player-coach role.

By that point, his hair was of a much better blend, though greys soon appeared in his beard. Blame ageing or management, with his playing retirement coming in January 2021 when he was appointed Derby manager.

The Rams' off-field struggles likely didn't help the greys. Though he took the club from bottom of the league to 18th, the Rams were relegated a season later following a 21-point deduction due to the club entering administration.

By the time he had taken charge of former side DC United back in the States, it was clear Rooney was gaining weight, with his grey beard now his dominating feature.

There's no shame in that happening – the need to stay fit as a player is no longer there, and Rooney was focusing on management, while wife Coleen hit the mainstream more than ever before due to her run-in with Rebecca Vardy – wife of Rooney's former England team-mate Jamie Vardy.

The Rooneys' son, Kai, was by this point storming through the ranks at United. Kai's parents were pictured alongside him at the Nordoff and Robbins Legends of Football charity gala in October 2024, and Rooney really had seemed to have put on the pounds.

Kai, meanwhile, had scored 56 goals in one season at Under-12 level, and has now worked his way up to Under-18 level.

After being sacked by Birmingham City after less than three months in charge in January 2024, and then Plymouth Argyle after seven months in December, he would embark on punditry.

He worked with the likes of Sky Sports, TNT Sports and Prime Video as he tried to find his feet – his hair now as grey as his beard.

An appearance in the Soccer Aid match in June 2025 at the age of 39 highlighted how his fitness had declined since his retirement – though he still managed to score the fastest goal in the game's history.

And it wasn't too long after that he became a television regular. In fact, he started working with Prime Video in February 2025, and explained after Soccer Aid that he wanted to concentrate on his television work rather than management.

Soon after, as of August that year, he had been announced as one of Match of the Day's pundits for the season, and is again this campaign.

His regular TV work may have coincided with his latest glow up.

Rooney was in attendance this week at the UK premiere for The Real Rooneys – a documentary series featuring the Rooney family behind the scenes.

Disney have the rights to the ten episodes, and fans are introduced to the usual off-camera life of Coleen and Wayne, as well as their four children.

Fans were left stunned by Rooney's appearance at the premiere. Clean shaven and obviously a lot lighter, the former England captain glowed post-nose surgery.

He then went on This Morning, asked whether he had been on weight loss jabs. 'Apparently I've seen recently I've been taking this pen thing about me,' he said. 'It's a shame, because I'm working really hard to lose weight. Apparently I've been on the pen.'

Maybe it comes with being in front of the camera more often. Maybe it was a change he wanted to make.

At 40, he is just getting started with his television career. These are the many faces of Wayne Rooney so far – but there may still be plenty to come.

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