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Kai Rooney appeared to have a dig at Manchester United team-mate JJ Gabriel while celebrating a goal. Rooney, 16, is beginning to establish himself as one of United's most promising young stars. The son of former England and United captain Wayne Rooney helped himself to four goals in a dominant 6-0 victory over Burnley for the Reds' U18s. He marked his second goal by copying Gabriel's celebration.
His fellow young United star is currently at odds with the club, after sending a formal notice of intention to cancel his registration, which would essentially make him a free agent.
He has not featured, at any level, for the Red Devils since he stunned the club with his request. With the 15-year-old still at an impasse with United, Rooney's celebration for his second goal, which saw him put his arm across his face and do a gun finger in a similar manner to Gabriel, could be interpreted as a dig at his wantaway team-mate.
Only Rooney would know if he was taking a swipe at Gabriel. Either way, it was another strong performance from the former England captain's son. Unlike his famous father, Rooney plays on the right-wing, where he can cut onto his favoured left-foot and influence play.
Despite sharing the same name, his playing style is completely different to his old man. Wayne's former team-mate Darren Fletcher, who is in charge of the U18s side, reserved some extra credit for the teenage prospect.
He told MUTV: "We play attacking football, I know it is in the club’s identity and the DNA. We want to play fast, direct, attacking football but there is a lot more controlled possession element, that is just the way football is going these days.
"When you attack quickly, fluidly, get people into the box who make really good decisions. The key to football is decision-making, so when we got into the final third, the decision-making was brilliant today.
"Whether you pass, whether you cross, you shoot or use your teammate, whether you are running to make space for your teammate, all that decision-making has been fantastic, and I keep challenging them to do that.
"A really good performance from everyone, but obviously Kai getting four goals, he deserves it, he has obviously had a lot of injury problems, so to come back and do that was good.”Rooney will be in action again on Saturday, when the Under-18s side face Blackburn Rovers.
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