Wayne Rooney gives hilariously honest three-word answer when asked about Plymouth ace Morgan Whittaker
Today at 02:52 PM
Wayne Rooney gave a brilliantly candid answer when quizzed on ex-Derby and current Plymouth player Morgan Whittaker.
Former England and Manchester United star Rooney is currently managing Championship outfit Plymouth having joined over the summer on a three-year deal.
Whittaker was at Derby when Rooney took over from the sacked Phillip Cocu as part of the Rams’ interim staff before being promoted to boss in 2020, but moved on three months later.
Now, the winger is one of Plymouth’s stand out players – but when asked whether he knew of Whittaker’s talent at Pride Park, Rooney gave a straight-talking three-word answer.
“I sold him!” he told talkSPORT Drive, breaking out into a laugh with co-hosts Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent. “No, Morgan is a fantastic lad.
“[Derby] were in administration, so we had no option but to sell him and he went to Swansea. The one thing I said to Morgan at the time was, on the ball he’s fantastic, he scores some fantastic goals.
“The next step now is his overall game, this season that’s something we’ve really worked on and he’s been fantastic. His work rate, his effort to get back and help the team out alongside his quality he brings with his match winner, he’s such an important player for us.
“The reason I leave him on the pitch every game is because he has moments, like you could see on Saturday, he has those moments, 97th minute and he wins us the game.
“Delighted to keep him, he showed a real willingness to stay at the football club, and we’re delighted to have him.”
Plymouth sealed a dramatic 2-1 victory over Blackburn on Saturday, with Whittaker bagging his second goal of the season in the seventh minute of added time to send Home Park wild.
The winner was made all the more sweet given Blackburn had equalised in the 86th minute and looked to be taking home a point. Rooney’s furious protests saw him earn his first red card as a manager.
The 38-year-old revealed to talkSPORT he still joined in with the crazy celebrations, though – so much so, he broke the club secretary’s glasses.
Rooney is best known for playing for Manchester United from 2004 to 2017 after he signed from Everton for £20million plus add-ons.
He won five Premier League titles with the Red Devils under Sir Alex Ferguson, as well the Champions League and Europa League amongst other honours.
Rooney captained England from 2014 to 2017 and earned 120 caps, scoring 53 goals in that time.
After his playing career came to an end, he became Derby County manager, before taking change of DC United and most recently Birmingham City.
