Wayne Rooney has recalled a heated bust-up that left former team-mate Roy Keane ‘fuming’ during their Manchester United days.
The former Red Devils spent a year-and-a-half together at Old Trafford before Keane ended up leaving to join Celtic in 2005 after falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson.
While many would presume the ex-United stars got on well, given their success on the pitch, Rooney has revealed that the duo actually had a falling out early on.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, Rooney recalled the incident and said: ‘He’s watching rugby league [Roy Keane], so I was sat there – it was Newcastle away – and you had to go out the room to get your food. I think it was my second or third game.
‘He’s gone out, and I’ve changed it over to the The X Factor – and I hid the remote. So, he’s come back in, fuming. And we are sat there, and the next thing I know he’s got up and pulled the plug out of the TV.
Wayne Rooney recalled a heated bust-up that left former team-mate Roy Keane ‘fuming’ during their Manchester United days
The former Red Devils spent a year-and-a-half together at Old Trafford before Keane (right) ended up leaving to join Celtic in 2005
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‘I don’t even know if he knows, but about midnight, the club security knocked at my door, and asked for the remote. And I said, “I’ve no idea where it is!”‘
Keane, along with Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Jill Scott, was present on the podcast episode and was also offered the chance to reflect on the incident.
The former Man United captain said: ‘I like my rugby league and there was a good game on, and I came back, and I knew the lads were up to no good, the usual, very immature these lads.
‘And I was like, “where’s the control” and of course, The X Factor was on. So anyway, I wouldn’t say I stormed off, but I went to bed, and I knew he [Rooney] had done it.
‘But he was new to the club, so I thought, “give him a chance, you don’t want to be too hard on him.”
‘The next morning, we went down for breakfast, and he comes up to me and goes, “Did you find them controls?” – and I was going to be polite to him but when he said that, I said, “go f*** yourself”. We recovered after that!’
Elsewhere on the podcast, Rooney admitted he would ‘walk to Manchester City’ if Pep Guardiola asked him to be his assistant and hailed him as the best manager in the Premier League.
The former United team-mates were able to reflect on the incident together on the podcast
Keane claimed he ‘was going to be polite to him’ but ended up swearing at the United starlet
The Spaniard has transformed City into the most dominant team in European football since arriving at the Etihad in 2016, leading them to a historic Treble last term.
Guardiola has won 12 major trophies at City and remains on course to lift his fourth consecutive Premier League title, having finished top of the league in five of the past six seasons.
‘It depends [on whether I’d ever be an assistant] – if Pep Guardiola comes in and asks me to be his assistant, you’d walk there!’ he said speaking on the latest episode of the Stick to Football podcast with Sky Bet.
‘But you see what [Mikel] Arteta is doing now and I strongly believe a lot of that is from learning what Guardiola was doing and so it depends on what the situation is.’
Wayne Rooney was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet