Goalkeeper's insult to Kai Rooney about dad Wayne that left Man Utd youth player fuming

Coleen Rooney has opened up about the distressing abuse her son Kai faces on the football field, directed at his father, former England and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney.

While speaking on the Stick to Football podcast on Thursday (January 9), the 'I'm a Celeb' finalist spoke candidly about family life and the challenges faced by her eldest son.

Kai, aged 15, and aspiring to follow in his dad's footsteps, plays for United's youth academy but has found himself the subject of hurtful taunts because of his father's fame.

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As United's all-time top scorer, Rooney's legacy is not lost on the young forward, but this association has brought unwanted attention to Kai, particularly vivid during a football tournament at St George's Park.

During the episode, Coleen said: "A few years ago, I remember my son Kai took a penalty at St George's Park, where we were for a tournament. It went to penalties, Kai stepped up and just skied it.

"Afterwards I asked him how he could take a penalty like that, and he told me he was just fuming as the goalkeeper was saying: 'Your dad's sh*t', and he got dead angry. It doesn't happen to him very often, but it did then, and you can see in some games where they give you a little push. He's strong-minded though and usually shrugs it off," reports the Mirror.

Coleen also touched upon the transient nature of professional football, discussing the potential upheavals their family must be ready for due to Wayne's playing and managing career.

The ex-England skipper spent most of his career in the north-west playing for both Everton and Manchester United, providing stability for his family life. Yet, in 2018, he left Everton for a second time to embark on an overseas venture with DC United in the United States.

Although Rooney's move to Washington came first, it wasn't long before his family joined him. The 38-year-old opened up about the challenges of the relocation. "[Moving to America] was a big challenge," she revealed.

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"My youngest was six months, so to pick up a family was a lot. We agreed to go and looked at it as an adventure for a few years. Wayne went before us, and I waited until school finished [for the kids] and then planned on going for two years then come back again for my eldest to go to secondary school.

"My first thing was, as long as the kids were okay, I wanted to make sure the schools there were good. We looked and the British school was in DC, but where they wanted us to move was an hour away.

"In the end, I had to put my foot down and say no, we'll move to where the school is, and he [Wayne] will have to travel into training. If we went as a couple and not with the kids, it would have been fine."