Wayne Rooney has been spotted for the first time since his appearances at Manchester United‘s 3-0 defeat by Tottenham at Old Trafford sparked concern among the Red Devils fanbase.
The Plymouth Argyle boss was captured by Sky Sports’ cameras on Sunday evening as Erik ten Hag‘s side slumped to a disappointing loss. However, his condition just three years after retiring left supporters worried.
‘He looks really bad’, one account posted in response. ‘Hang in there, Wayne,’ another said, perhaps in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. ‘Rooney looks older than his age,’ a third added. ‘He needs to take care of himself.’
Two days on and the 38-year-old has been spotted arriving at Turf Moor for his side’s Championship clash against Burnley.
Rooney has been in good spirits in recent weeks after steering Argyle to two wins from their last four league games, boosting their survival bid. Plymouth currently sit 16th in the division after claiming an impressive 3-1 win over Luton last time out.
Wayne Rooney arrived at Turf Moor on Tuesday for his Plymouth side’s Championship clash against Burnley
The 38-year-old had sparked concern for his health after his photo was shared on social media
Rooney confessed in 2022 that he only had one suit that still fit him after being ribbed over his appearance by Jamie Carragher on Sky’s Monday Night Football.
Carragher noticed Rooney was wearing the same suit, shirt and tie combination from his Premier League Hall of Fame induction a fortnight before the show.
Rooney responded: ‘Do you know what? There’s a reason behind that.
‘Obviously, over the last year, I’ve put a little bit of weight on. So it’s actually the only suit what’ll fit me at the minute – I’ve got to get the most out of it.’
Rooney has previously opened up on his fight to avoid piling on the pounds during his trophy-laden playing career, writing in his 2012 book My Decade In The Premier League: ‘I’m like most blokes, I put on a few pounds after a holiday.
‘Even if I don’t train for a week, I put on two or three.’
Rooney had praised Plymouth’s ‘togetherness’ after a 3-1 Sky Bet Championship win over Luton at Home Park.
Rami Al Hajj marked his first Argyle start with a goal after eight minutes.
X users urged Rooney to take better care of himself after spotting him at Old Trafford
Rooney has previously opened up on his fight to avoid piling on the pounds during his career
Substitute Ibrahim Cissoko scored twice in the second half, either side of Victor Moses’ reply for the visitors.
Rooney said: ‘I am delighted for the lads. Friday evening live on Sky and we had a lot of young lads in there, and I am delighted for them.
‘It was a good performance for different reasons tonight, in the first half we controlled the tempo of the game.
‘Luton tried to press us and when we played with composure and through the press we caused them problems.
‘Second half we were a little sloppy and gave the ball away a little bit too often but our back four were excellent.
‘I thought how we dealt with (Elijah) Adebayo – who is a very difficult player to play against – was good and Luton are very good at set-pieces and I though how we defended against them was brilliant.
‘We showed great character and desire to go and head the ball… and then the attacking players get all the praise because they score the goals.
‘They were good goals as well. Rami, first start and great finish from him, and then Ibrahim came on and scored two, so all-in-all a good night.
Rooney hailed his Plymouth side after their impressive 3-1 victory over Luton on Friday
Plymouth put in a stunning performance to win their second league game of the campaign
Rooney lauded the display and insisted there is a ‘real togetherness’ among his squad
‘There were lots of things I was happy about. The conversation I had with the players in the week was the defenders will do a lot work to keep us in games and then the attackers get all the glory, which is exactly what happened tonight.
‘What you are seeing is a real togetherness, everyone at the club – staff and the fans – everyone is buying into what we are trying to do. There’s a really good feeling around the club.’
