Wayne and Coleen Rooney have spoken of their pride in their eldest son, Kai, as he looks to build his own football career with Manchester United's youth setup. The 16-year-old is the focus of attention in the couple's new documentary series, The Real Rooneys, which launched on Disney+ on Thursday (September 24).
Kai currently plays for Manchester United's Under-18s squad and signed a sponsorship deal with Puma at the age of 12. His younger brother Klay, 13, is also in the same academy. Wayne and Coleen are also parents to Kit, 10, and Cass, eight.
Waiting on a scholarship decision
In episode three of the documentary, Kai is seen filming an advert with sponsor Puma, and the subject of his future at United comes up. His mother Coleen says in the episode: "This is a big year for Kai. He's waiting to find out if Manchester United are going to offer him a scholarship."
Speaking exclusively to the Manchester Evening News ahead of the series release, Coleen shared her joy at Kai being involved in the show and having his football progression documented. "It's nice for him to own it, because he's worked hard, and he is his own person," she said.
Proving himself beyond his dad's name
Coleen also addressed comments suggesting Kai only gets opportunities because of his father. "That's the thing, going back years ago, you did get the comments of, 'Is he only there because of his dad?', and it goes to show no, he's got a talent, and he's worked hard to get where he is," she said. "But not only just at football, at school, he's just done his GCSEs. He got really good results and was taken out of school a lot for football commitments, so he's had to double-up on that."
She added: "So I think for him, in a year, how much he has come on and changed as well, he's a strong-willed lad, he always has been. And I was proud when you see the clips of his interviews and how he holds himself because it can be hard and being in the public eye from a young age, and he's managed it well."
Family life on screen
Wayne spoke about the children's involvement in the series, saying: "They're good fun, and difficult as well. They're hard to deal with at times, but they are good fun, and I think you see all in the show. There's moments where, the kids are a bit down or there's something at school or Kai's worried about getting the scholarship of Manchester United, for instance.
"It shows us as parents as well and how we're talking to them, to help them through that and stuff. But then there are fun moments like us using the buggies [at their Cheshire mansion] and stuff like that. So I think there are different things in the show which show probably a bit of everything about us as adults, as parents, as husband and wife..."
Coleen added: "And them as individuals, their own characters," before Wayne continued: "They're all different. They've all got their own personalities, different characters, and that brings a challenge in itself. So, there's a lot of fun, but also a few tears."
All episodes of The Real Rooneys are now available to watch exclusively on Disney+.
