Wayne Rooney has explained that his move into punditry is driven by purpose rather than financial gain, and he has admitted he may never return to management. The 40-year-old former England captain is a regular on BBC and Amazon broadcasts and co-hosts a Manchester United podcast with Mark Goldbridge on Gary Neville's The Overlap network.
Purpose Over Pay
Speaking on his new Disney+ documentary, The Real Rooneys, Rooney said: "I'm not doing it for money, I'm doing it for a purpose rather than just being at the house all day." He added: "There's a possibility I'll never manage again, so moving forward... I need a role on The Masked Singer, but I'd get hammered."
Rooney's main punditry role is on Match of the Day, where he signed a deal at the start of the 2025-26 Premier League season reportedly worth £800,000 per year. His last management job was at Plymouth Argyle, where he won just four of 23 Championship games before leaving in December 2024 with the club bottom of the table.
Learning and New Ventures
Reflecting on the unpredictability of management, Rooney said: "I'm a realist I think you know as a player when your career is going to end and you can prepare for that. So the next stage in management for instance you don't know whether you'll be there a year, two years, 10 years or three months. You're not prepared when you lose the job. I'm enjoying Match of the Day and it's time to learn and get better at what I'm doing."
Rooney also has a new BBC show lined up called Can You Beat Wayne Rooney?, hosted by comedian Alex Brooker. Each week, a famous guest faces Rooney in a football trivia challenge, available on BBC Sport's Football YouTube channel and BBC iPlayer. The BBC said in a statement: "While guests will arrive convinced they can beat him, every question unlocks a story from Wayne's extraordinary journey through football, taking audiences behind the scenes of dressing rooms, title races, international tournaments and some of the sport's most iconic moments."
