Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney was left feeling short-changed after ignoring his own son’s advice in an effort to catch Kai in action

Wayne Rooney suffered disappointment watching Manchester United’s FA Youth Cup quarter-final win over Sunderland. That’s despite the fact he broke a ‘golden rule’ set in place with son Kai in order to get a potential peek at him in action.

The Old Trafford icon has supposedly promised his 16-year-old offspring he wouldn’t attend any more of his matches. Not due to any underlying tension or animosity, however, but because Rooney Sr is routinely swamped by fans.

United’s under-18s progressed to the semi-finals of the Youth Cup on Wednesday after beating Sunderland 3-2. Chido Obi, Noah Ajayi and Junior Brown provided the goals in a comeback win over the Black Cats.

However, Rooney will nevertheless have been left disappointed to see son Kai remain an unused substitute for the quarter-final clash. He will have been over the moon to see the next wave of United talent advance as they look to claim the crown for the first time since 2022, however.

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Like any prospect, Kai would likely love to see his iconic dad attend as many matches as possible. However, Wayne’s wife, Coleen, previously revealed their son’s frustrations after seeing his dad’s attention stolen by others whenever he turned up for his matches.

“That’s the thing with kids I think, it’s hard to go on days out,” she said in 2024. “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 (Kai) 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.”

Despite not turning out for Darren Fletcher’s side in the quarters, Kai may get another shot in next month’s semi against Crystal Palace. United will take on the Eagles in the hopes of setting up an FA Youth Cup final against either Manchester City or Blackburn.

It’s not that Fletcher’s shy of promoting any especially young talents among his crops of future stars, either. That much is apparent after 15-year-old JJ Gabriel played a prominent starting role in the win over Sunderland.

Rooney Jr. has made six total appearances for United’s under-18 this season. He has scored a single goal (in a 5-0 rout of Middlesbrough back in August) and recorded one assist in that span, while his sole Youth Cup appearance came late in a win over Derby two months ago.

Kai is still aiming to revive the kind of form that once saw him grab 56 goals and 28 assists in a single season for United’s under-12s. However, he has time on his side, to say the least, as he looks to follow his father and forge his own path to success at United.

Man Utd U18s won 3-2 against Sunderland in the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals and Noah Ajayi notched another goal.

21:08, 18 Mar 2026

Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Senne Lammens were three of the high-profile names in the Old Trafford directors’ box to watch the FA Youth Cup quarter-final on Wednesday.

JJ Gabriel was the star on show. The youngster is the poster boy of the Class of ’26, but it was his teammate, Noah Ajayi, who opened the scoring with a fine long-range strike from distance.

All the talk around the academy has been about Gabriel this season, meaning Ajayi has probably gone under the radar. The winger has four goals in his last three league games and continued his red-hot form against Sunderland, impressively finding the bottom left corner after a winding run.

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Ajayi celebrated with a knee slide and was joined by his peers. He still had plenty to do when he picked up the ball, and the accuracy of the strike beat the Sunderland goalkeeper.

The 17-year-old has delivered consistently strong performances for the U18s this season, and he possesses the physical attributes to make the next step. And Ajayi looks like an athlete, which bodes well for his future.

Although English football has evolved, meaning more technical players who do not physically stand out at an early stage are not lost in the system, it still helps to have those qualities in academies.

Chido Obi has benefited from his stature on his journey so far. The youngster was a doubt to face Sunderland in the Youth Cup quarter-finals, but recovered from a head injury in time to start.

It has been fascinating to follow Obi’s development this term. The young striker dropped down to U18 level for the first time in a year to play in the Youth Cup in January. The decision was made to drop Obi down to U18 level to enhance United’s chances of winning the Youth Cup again.

On paper, it looked like United had a favourite’s chance of winning the competition, with the likes of Gabriel, Obi and Ajayi at Darren Fletcher’s disposal. United had talent on the pitch and pedigree on the touchline, but Sunderland rose to the occasion at Old Trafford and went down fighting.

Ajayi’s goal was the difference at the break, but the U18s didn’t really get going, so it wasn’t a surprise to see Sunderland start the second half on the front foot and turn the game on its head.

Two goals in three minutes for the Mackems silenced Old Trafford and threatened to ruin the script; however, it didn’t take long for Obi to score his 15th goal of the campaign.

Obi may look back at the end of the season and think it was his luckiest goal. The 18-year-old awkwardly scuffed his first attempt when he was one-on-one, but managed to get another bite at the cherry.

Last season, United’s downfall in the Youth Cup was their reliance on Obi. They were knocked out of the competition in the semi-finals against Aston Villa when Obi had a night to forget.

The only way to win the Youth Cup is for every youngster to play their part, so there was further encouragement that Fletcher’s side could lift the trophy when Junior Brown made it 3-2.

Brown rifled a shot from close range into the roof of the net at the Stretford End, which was just his second goal of the season. For a moment, Fletcher looked delighted on the touchline before snapping back into action and passing on instructions for his team to see out the victory.

Gabriel had a chance to get on the scoresheet when he was played into the box after a wonderful pass by Ajayi, but he was denied by a decent save. Another encouraging sign was Gabriel’s attitude. He kept on running and tracking back on a night when he would have loved to score.

Carrick was asked about Gabriel in his pre-Aston Villa press conference, even though the youngster is not old enough to play in the Premier League this season. Carrick was complimentary about the youngster, but stressed the importance of patience and giving him time to develop.

Gabriel has already trained with the first team at Carrington on several occasions. “He’s done well as you’d expect, and it’s good to have the younger players come up with us,” Carrick added.

Ajayi is another member of United’s current Youth Cup team who has trained with the first team this season. The U18s are a talented crop, and have their eyes on the trophy after reaching the semi-finals.

Manchester United wonderkid JJ Gabriel has caught the eye of Marcus Rashford with his performances for the Under-18s

It hasn’t taken long for JJ Gabriel to come good on his promise as a young footballer. Former Manchester United academy graduate Marcus Rashford tipped the teenager to become a future star and believes he’s already there – despite still waiting on a senior debut.

Gabriel, who turned 15 in October, isn’t allowed to play Premier League football until next season due to competition rules on the age of players. He has already trained with the first-team squad under Ruben Amorim and Michael Carrick, though, while continuing to score for fun while turning out for United’s Under-18s.

In April 2025, Gabriel became the youngest player to turn out for the Under-18 side. It didn’t take long for him to also become their youngest scorer, bagging a brace after coming off the bench against Leeds.

At the time, Rashford was on loan at Aston Villa. This didn’t stop him from commenting on the teenager’s post celebrating his achievement, though, writing “”Future star” and adding a star emoji.

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Since that goalscoring debut, Gabriel has gone from strength to strength. He has scored 18 goals in 19 matches in the Under-18 Premier League this season and also became United’s youngest FA Youth Cup scorer when he netted the winner against Peterborough on his debut in the competition.

Rashford, who is spending this season with Barcelona, has kept tabs on the youngster. Gabriel shared photos of himself training with the first-team yet again, prompting the England international to write: “Lil bro is a star” – losing that ‘future’ qualifier already.

Gabriel and Rashford have very different tasks awaiting them this week. The former will be out to fire United into the FA Youth Cup semi-finals when they face Sunderland on Wednesday while the latter is in action for Barcelona against Newcastle in the Champions League.

Earlier this season, United interim boss Carrick spoke about bringing Gabriel in for first-team training sessions. “He is not allowed [to be part of a first-team squad on a matchday]. He’s too young,” he said.

“JJ’s doing really well. We’ve got some really good players in the academy and we try and get the younger players up [with the main group] as much as we can.”

He added: “We’re always trying to give them (academy prospects) that exposure. JJ is a big talent, it is pretty obvious and he has had a good season for the Under-18s. We think an awful lot of him.

“But patience is important in managing everything that comes with that and developing him and picking the right moment to step up, to leave them in a certain place. He’s trained well and it is good to have young players up.”

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Kai Rooney, 16, has already played at Old Trafford as he aims to follow his father Wayne into the Man United first team

Manchester United prospect Kai Rooney has already outlined the scale of his ambitious targets. The teenager, son of legendary United forward Wayne, previously stated he aspired to be a regular fixture for the first team at Old Trafford within the next decade.

Kai, 16, has developed into one of United’s most promising talents in recent years. Much like his father, he is a prolific forward whose main strength lies in his goalscoring ability.

The youngster has recently moved into a right-wing position and made his first competitive appearance at Old Trafford in the FA Youth Cup. He is even eligible to feature for the first team this season, though he doesn’t look especially close after he missed much of the first half of the campaign through injury.

Speaking in 2023, he discussed the scope of his goals should he progress to elite level football. He demonstrated that, despite his footballing pedigree, he isn’t expecting things to be handed to him on a plate and is prepared to work tirelessly and commit fully to realising his aspirations.

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“In 10 years, hopefully I will be playing in the Premier League for Man United,” the youngster said. “That’s where I see myself but I’ve got to make it happen with the hard work and everything behind the scenes.

“I could play on the wing as well, but I’m mainly a striker that scores goals,” he said while representing Manchester Grammar Schools during an international tournament in 2023. “That’s what I’ve got to keep doing to win the tournament.

“I’m quite pleased with my performances. Obviously, I could have been better, but generally, I think that I have been quite good.”

Coming anywhere near matching his father’s achievements will be no simple task. Wayne found the net 253 times to become United’s all-time leading scorer, but Kai has displayed promising signs of his ability at age-group level.

During the 2021/22 season with United’s Under-12s, Kai racked up 56 goals and provided 28 assists in a single campaign. This means he was directly involved in 84 goals over the course of the year.

Earlier this month, he netted four times for United’s U16s, and his displays have also secured him multiple appearances with the U18 squad, despite being younger than the majority of his team-mates.

“He’s enjoying it,” his father Wayne told The Athletic in July 2023. “That’s the most important thing. He’s doing everything he can to try to have a career in football and not just him, my other children as well.

“They love the game and my advice – to any children – is play to enjoy. There’s that much pressure when you do get to the professional level and sometimes you forget why you’re playing the game.

“You’re playing because you love playing the game and you enjoy playing the game. As long as you’re doing everything right to give yourself the best opportunity then you never know.”

Representing Liverpool Schoolboys, Wayne once netted 72 goals in a single season in his teens – a record that stood for nearly 20 years.

At just nine years old, playing for Copplehouse boys’ club in the Walton and Kirkdale junior league, he bagged 99 goals during the 1994/95 campaign. That remarkable goalscoring run caught the eye of Everton scout Bob Pendleton, who brought him to the Merseyside club.

Following his arrival at Everton’s academy, the goals continued to come. In 1995/96, featuring for both the club’s U10 and U11 sides, Wayne racked up an astonishing 114 goals in just 29 matches before eventually breaking into the first team at 16 and later going on to sign for United.

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Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.

Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.