Wayne Rooney expresses interest in joining Manchester United’s coaching staff

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Rooney wants to help assistant coach with Carrick at Man United

In another unexpected twist in the Manchester United manager saga, club and England legend Wayne Rooney has expressed interest in returning to Old Trafford and potentially joining their coaching staff.

Man United’s all-time leading goalscorer is one of half a dozen different former players to have been linked with either the top job or a backroom role following Ruben Amorim’s departure.

This most recent development comes after Rooney was discussing ex-midfielder Michael Carrick, now being reported as United’s frontrunner to become the next head coach.

Speaking on his self-titled BBC podcast, the retired Premier League icon turned coach and now pundit, didn’t hesitate when asked about the prospect, simply replying: “of course I would” – dubbing the decision as “a no-brainer.”

Rooney’s last coaching job was that of Plymouth Argyle manager, which ended in December 2024 following a run of poor results, much like his time at Birmingham City earlier that year.

Since then, he’s bounced around between punditry and broadcasting, serving as a guest on the likes of The Overlap with his old teammates and peers, as well as now co-hosting his own aforementioned pod, The Wayne Rooney Show.

However, the 40-year-old has always insisted that he still wants a future in coaching, and while it may not have worked as a full-time first-team boss just yet, perhaps more of an assistant position or more specific post (maybe training the forwards as Benni McCarthy did) could be a better fit for now.

‘Wazza’ admitted that, even despite having been on holiday with Carrick “last week”, no one could have expected this situation to have emerged, and certainly not this quick a turnaround.

Moreover, Rooney insisted that rather than preferring any particular person for the next interim head coach/United manager or to join the wider staff, he simply believes that they need “people who know the club” inside and out.

He isn’t the first to have accused the global sporting franchise of losing its ‘identity’ in the years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, and many seem to believe that getting in familiar faces who were at the club during its heyday could help resolve that issue.

This was obviously pretty much the thinking when Ole Gunnar Solskjær not only became interim head coach but got the job on a permanent basis after they began looking more like the confident, attacking teams of old and like they were enjoying their football again. Though we all know how it ended.

Solskjær did look to be leading the race to return to Old Trafford for a second spell as manager initially, but it now looks as though Michael Carrick is the odds-on favourite to replace Amorim in the interim, with the suggestion that one might still assist the other.

Carrick certainly received a good amount of praise during his time at Middlesbrough, and while his time there didn’t end perfectly, either – parting ways after missing out on the playoff spots once again – there seems to be a belief that he, whether flanked by others or not, is the right choice for United at this time.

Once again, there is talk of current temporary caretaker Darren Fletcher remaining with the first team in some capacity rather than simply returning straight to the under-18s, but only time will tell who will be involved. Nevertheless, it now looks nailed on that Carrick will be in the dugout for the derby day.

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Featured Images — Gordon Flood (via Flickr)/The Wayne Rooney Show (screenshot via BBC)

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