‘I'd walk there’ - Wayne Rooney risks angering Manchester United fans with Man City job admission

Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney says he would not think twice about joining Manchester City if Pep Guardiola asked him to become his assistant.

The Old Trafford legend, who scored against Guardiola’s Barcelona in the 2011 Champions League final, cited the success of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta as an example of the benefits of working under the City boss.

Arteta worked as Guardiola’s assistant for three years until being appointed at The Emirates Stadium in 2019. Arteta lifted the FA Cup in his first season at Arsenal and now has two Community Shield wins in the bank after beating City on penalties last August.

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Despite being United’s all-time top goalscorer, Rooney says he would be excited to work under Guardiola if the request ever came forward. However, he would have to consider whether he would want to become an assistant after already leading Derby County, DC United and Birmingham City.

Asked whether he would ever be an assistant by former teammate Gary Neville on the Stick To Football podcast, the 38-year-old said: “It depends. If Pep Guardiola comes in and asks me to be his assistant, you’d walk there!

“But you see what Arteta is doing now and I strongly believe a lot of that is from learning what Guardiola was doing and so it depends on what the situation is.”

Rooney was sacked by Birmingham in January just 83 days and 15 games into his tenure after picking up only two wins. The former England captain said he would be taking some time out of the game to “get over this setback”.

Over the past week, Rooney has admitted that boxing