Man Utd icon Wayne Rooney lands new TV role two months after Birmingham City exit

Wayne Rooney will be part of the TNT Sports punditry team for Manchester United's Premier League clash at home to Everton this weekend.

United host Everton at Old Trafford on Saturday, having been picked for the lunchtime kick-off slot by TNT Sports. Regular pundits Rio Ferdinand and Joleon Lescott will represent their respective former teams, with The Mirror reporting that Rooney will be the star addition and middle-man, having played for both during his career.

The 38-year-old has been out of work for around two months, having been sacked as manager of Birmingham City at the start of January. The Championship side lost nine of their 15 matches under Rooney and dropped from sixth to 20th in the league.

Rooney was on television screens last week when taking on punditry duty for the BBC's coverage of United's 1-0 FA Cup fifth round win at Nottingham Forest. He has also been on Sky Sports in the past and is becoming hugely sought after when out of work as a manager.

The former striker came through the academy at Everton, bursting onto the scene as a raw 16-year-old and being thrown into the spotlight after scoring an incredible last-minute winner against Arsenal just three days before his 17th birthday. He would spend two seasons at Goodison Park before joining United in the summer of 2004.

Rooney spent 13 seasons at United, during which time he became the club's all-time top-scorer with 253 goals in 559 appearances across all competitions. His goals helped the Reds to countless major honours including five Premier League titles and the 2007/2008 Champions League.

The forward returned to Everton briefly in 2017 after leaving United, but spent just one year back on Merseyside before moving to MLS side D.C. United and then Derby County. The ex-England star has since managed the latter pair and dreams of taking on a managerial role in the Premier League at some point in the future.

United are desperate to return to winning ways on Saturday, having lost consecutive league games for the first time since September. Last week's disappointing defeat at home to Fulham was compounded by Sunday's 3-1 Manchester derby defeat at the Etihad.

They face an Everton side winless in 10 league games and floating dangerously close to the relegation zone. TNT Sports' coverage of the match starts at 11am on Saturday.