'I've seen Wayne Rooney's true character – he's very different away from football'

· Mirror

One of Wayne Rooney's former teammates has given an insight into the Manchester United and England legend's personality

Jermain Defoe has revealed that Wayne Rooney often showed a different side of his personality away from the pitch. The Premier League legend was a burst of confidence and aggression when making his Everton breakthrough, aged 16.

Rooney soon became a global superstar and showed no fear against more experienced pros as he continued to take his career to the next level. After starring for England at Euro 2004, the striker joined Manchester United for £25.6million, becoming the world’s most expensive teenager.

Under Sir Alex Ferguson's guidance, Rooney’s winning mentality and competitiveness were often on full display as he claimed five Premier League titles, the Champions League and numerous other major honours. These characteristics, combined with his natural ability, saw him become United and England’s all-time top scorer, though Harry Kane has since taken the latter accolade.

Having been in the spotlight from an early age, the 40-year-old’s on-pitch persona was well-documented. However, his former England teammate Defoe has given an insight into Rooney’s more humble and caring nature after experiencing a different side of his character.

> “Wayne Rooney was special,” Defoe said on The Warm-Up podcast by William Hill. “I could talk about his footballing ability for hours because he is one of the best players England has ever produced, but away from football he is so humble.

> “He has so much love for people; you see it and you feel it. Because of how he is as a person, good things were always going to happen for him.”

The United legend and his family are the subjects of a new Disney+ docuseries, The Real Rooneys. While the England icon had already begun to showcase his personality as a pundit, Defoe, who played alongside Rooney for the Three Lions on 28 occasions, fondly remembers their time working together.

> “He was so natural, and he enjoyed it. He used to tell me to make runs and he would find me,” Defoe continued. “I got the feeling that he wanted me to score. To be like that, you have to be a special person.

> “I played with a lot of centre forwards who, if they’re on the bench and you score, you can see that they’re raging. Rooney was completely different. He would score goals, but it wasn’t about that for him – it was about winning.

> “He could do everything. He scored a lot of goals when he was young but then sacrificed that for a few years at Manchester United to become a winger and allow Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez to do what they do. He was humble enough to be on the side of that but know that it was helping them to win the Premier League. That’s all he was focused on.”

The 40-year-old ended his 13-year stint at United with a record 253 goals in 559 appearances. On the international stage, Rooney scored 53 goals across his 120 England caps, while Defoe netted 20 times for the Three Lions in 57 games.

Read the original

People in this story

Related