Wayne Rooney signs '£800k Match of the Day pundit' deal

The 39-year-old is set to enjoy the 2025-26 season from the sofa, having been unsuccessful as a manager in spells at DC United, Birmingham City, and Plymouth Argyle.

He will join Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman, and Gabby Logan, who have all been announced as presenters for the Saturday night, BBC 1 staple, following on from Gary Lineker.

According to the Sun, Rooney will receive the £800,000 over two years and is set to be part of the team that presents the World Cup for the Beeb.

Lineker left the channel at the end of the season, having refused a new contract that would have seen him present tournament coverage but not the week-in-week-out Premier League.

Rooney enjoyed an illustrious football career, becoming the record scorer for both Manchester United and England, captaining both sides. He won the Premier League on multiple occasions and also lifted the Champions League with the Red Devils in 2008. He finished his career with Derby County in 2021, even though he is younger than the still-active Cristiano Ronaldo.

He has been a pundit for games before, enjoying some banter with Lineker - telling the anchor that he doesn’t like fish, in one mundane exchange. During the FA Cup final, Rooney’s fledgling managerial career was pulled to shreds by Lineker, who joked that his teams didn’t need to worry about defending a 1-0 lead as they were usually behind.

Rooney has not commented. His wife Coleen has reportedly landed a £10m contract to be part of a fly-on-the-wall documentary series for Disney+.

Who are the Match of the Day pundits?

Assuming that Rooney does get the job, here are the current pundits who are involved with Match of the Day:

• Alan Shearer
• Martin Keown
• Danny Murphy
• Dion Dublin
• Shay Given
• Stephen Warnock
• Micah Richards
• Leon Osman
• Ashley Williams
• Fara Williams
• Glenn Murray
• Joe Hart
• Theo Walcott
• Steph Houghton