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Wayne Rooney has revealed his son Kai's first comments after making his Old Trafford debut for the Manchester United Under-18s. Kai, 16, has been following his United legend dad's footsteps since joining the club's academy aged 11 in 2020.

The teenager played for Darren Fletcher's Under-18s side in the FA Youth Cup against Derby County last week, coming off the bench during the 2-1 fourth round victory. It marked Kai's first time playing at the Theatre of Dreams, nine years on from his dad's last game at the ground. Rooney and his wife Coleen watched on from the stands, despite Kai previously banning the former United and England captain from attending his games.

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The forward, according to his mum Coleen, decided from a young age there was no point in Rooney attending his matches at grassroots tournaments because of the fans swarming him for autographs, which meant he couldn't actually watch his son play. But there was no danger of that at Old Trafford, where he sat next to first-team head coach Michael Carrick in the directors' box.

Speaking later on his BBC podcast The Wayne Rooney Show, the legendary striker revealed the first four words Kai said to him on the way home from making his bow at the iconic stadium were: "The pitch was massive."

Rooney then addressed the common misconception that the Old Trafford pitch is bigger than other Premier League grounds by saying: "Steven Gerrard always used to say to me how big the Old Trafford pitch is, which it actually isn't because it's the same maximum size as a lot of grounds in the Premier League. But the surroundings make it feel bigger."

Speaking about how proud he felt, the 40-year-old added: "Kai got moved up to the Under-18s squad for the Youth Cup and it was great to see him come on. It brought back memories of when I played in the Youth Cup for Everton. It was a proud moment and I'm delighted for him. Hopefully he continues that and he can have a good run with the team."

Kai made his debut for United's Under-18s in August last year, aged just 15. Fittingly, the fixture came against Everton, his dad's boyhood club. He has made a handful of appearances for the team in the months since despite an injury and has regularly impressed, particularly as one of the youngest players in the age group.

Wayne and his wife Coleen have three other sons - Klay, Kit and Cass. Like Kai, Klay is part of United's youth setup, while Cass is following in his father's footsteps at Everton's academy. Their third son, Kit, has already 'retired' from football.