Kai Rooney's Man Utd ban and why he told his dad Wayne he's not allowed to watch him play

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Wayne Rooney's son Kai is striving to follow in his father's footsteps at Manchester United . The 16-year-old is performing well in the academy and has already made two appearances for the U18s, scoring one goal.

However, being the son of a football icon comes with its own set of challenges. Wayne, now retired, was a titan of English football, winning numerous major honours during his career and representing England in countless international tournaments.

Living up to the Rooney name is no small feat for young Kai, but he's already showing promise, even if he's not yet playing on the same stage as his dad.

Here, Mirror Football outlines some of the obstacles Kai has faced during his time with United, including an unusual ban involving his famous father.

Kai took the surprising step of banning his own dad from watching his matches due to the overwhelming attention he drew on the sidelines. This wasn't a club-imposed exile; instead, the teenager told his dad that he wouldn't be attending his games, as fans were more interested in taking selfies than watching the match.

The ban was revealed by Kai's mum, Coleen, during her stint on I'm a Celebrity ...Get Me Out of Here! in 2024. The 39-year-old shed light on the difficulties the family has faced due to Wayne's fame, both on and off the pitch.

She said: "That's the thing with kids I think, it's hard to go on days out. Kai told Wayne to stop coming to football games, when he played grassroots tournaments and stuff because he used to get swarmed and he couldn't even watch the game.

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"How do you say to all of these kids, 'Go away, I'm watching my son?' Adults, it's different, you could speak to them, so he just said, 'Oh, dad there's no point you coming because you don't even watch me play anyway.' Which is sad, but it can't be helped anyway. At the same time, the fans help you along the way and get you where you are."

Despite being the son of a United legend, Kai receives no preferential treatment from the club - including when it comes to its long-standing academy regulations. The teenager signed a deal with Puma in 2022, aged just 12, to wear their footwear, but wasn't permitted to do so during U16S matches.

Speaking about the club's stringent rules on The Smith Brothers: Not A Podcast, father Wayne said: "He's obviously with Puma but when he plays for the Manchester United U16s, something which I really like is he can't wear his Puma boots.

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"All the academy have to wear the same boots. They do it because there's people from areas where they can't afford certain boots so I think it's really good. But he's played for the U18s a few times and he can then wear his Puma boots. He's doing well to be fair to him."

Wayne is delighted that Kai receives equal treatment amongst his academy peers, believing it provides crucial grounding for the youngster before he steps into elite-level football.

Although a recent setback has temporarily delayed the promising forward's breakthrough, he's now back in action and setting his sights firmly on the top.

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