Wayne Rooney has found a new team. Well, kind of.
The Manchester United and England hero is joining The Overlap.
Rooney, 38, will star alongside the likes of Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Ian Wright, Jill Scott, and Jamie Carragher in the channel’s array of YouTube and podcast content.
Launched by Neville in 2021, The Overlap has become one of football’s most agenda-setting voices, landing exclusives with big names and covering all the big talking points every week.
‘I’m excited to announce that I will be joining my good mate Gary Neville and the team at The Overlap to appear on the channel across some of their brilliant shows on YouTube and the podcast,’ Rooney wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
‘I can’t wait to get started.’
Football transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano even filmed a video announcing the signing, claiming that Rooney will debut with The Overlap ‘very soon’.
Alongside interviews, the channel publishes a variety of shows including The Breakdown, and Fan Debate, and Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet.
Rooney is searching for new endeavours following his sacking from Birmingham City in January.
His budding managerial career too a hit in the Midlands when he took over from John Eustace with the club in sixth place and left them in 20th.
He only won two of his 15 games in charge and they are now in the relegation zone going into the final game of the season.
It’s clear that the United and England legend is keen to return to the dugout but, before he does that, Rooney has embarked on a number of ventures.
Primarily, the 38-year-old has featured as a pundit for multiple broadcasters – including Sky Sports, TNT Sports and BBC One – in recent months.
He has become associated with savage put-downs on punditry duty.
In his recent appearance on Sky Sports, Rooney told Virgil van Dijk and Liverpool ‘to get on with it’ following their Merseyside derby defeat.
‘Those Liverpool players should be wanting to go tomorrow because when you lose a derby game you want the games to come quick,’ he said.
‘We’ve heard it so many times this season with Liverpool about 12.30 kick offs. Get on with it, that’s part of your job. They should be ready to play.’
Similarly, during punditry duty for United’s win over Everton in March, he claimed he had no sympathy for Marcus Rashford’s struggles in the 2023-24 campaign.
Rooney told TNT Sports: ‘Not much, to be honest. He’s in a privileged position where he is playing for Man United.
‘He is the one player that I believe can get my goal scoring record. I hope he does but he needs to hit consistency. He is not having the best of seasons, so he needs to find some form and become a leader.’
This month, Rooney was announced as the latest star signing for EA Sports FC Pro Club Girth N Turf – which was founded by YouTubers Angry Ginge and Yung Filly.
Rooney made his debut for the club but it wasn’t his gaming skills that caught the eye – or perhaps ear – during the live stream.
After playing, Rooney stated his desire to play again in the future, saying: ‘If yous [sic] want us back I’ll be back.’ Yung Filly replied yes straight away.
However, the 38-year-old was quickly met with a joking jibe from Angry Ginge – real name Morgan Burtwistle – who declared: ‘You can come back tomorrow, mate. Don’t be s*** again.’
This caused Rooney to respond with a light-hearted jab of his own as he hit back with: ‘Ah, you ginger ****!’.
Just a week later, Rooney caused his team-mates to burst into laughter again after reacting quickly to a foul mouthed comment from the live stream chat.
‘For some reason I am just being called “you are a fat granny s******” apparently, cheers mate,’ said Angry Ginge. ‘Someone is obviously not very happy that Real Madrid won.’
Rooney was quick to respond with the 38-year-old making the deadpan comment ‘I don’t think that was aimed at you’.
He has also refused to rule out joining KSI’s Misfits Boxing promotion after claiming that ‘a few’ people had been in touch to try and get him in the ring.
