Wayne Rooney desperately searches for redemption amid the wreckage at Derby

Wayne Rooney was, by his own admission, never all that interested in school. But one subject intrigued him more than others: religious studies. The young Rooney was raised as a Catholic, attended a local primary called Our Lady and St Swithin’s in Croxteth, said his prayers most evenings and still considers himself a man of devout faith. “Wayne’s recall of stories about the life of Jesus is quite detailed,” read an early school report.

In late 2010 Rooney was in turmoil. His frustration at Manchester United had bubbled over into a sensational transfer request. Immediately, however, he was overcome by guilt and self-reproach. “My mind goes into another spin,” he writes in his autobiography. “I feel gutted at what I’ve done. How stupid are you, Wayne? What are you doing?” As it turned out, his desperation for forgiveness – to absolve his wrongs – would provide the fuel for his last great season as a player.

Rooney’s career lends itself to all kinds of different themes but perhaps the most powerful is this idea of guilt and redemption. Many footballers have erred like Rooney but few repent quite like him. When he was sent off in a crucial World Cup qualifier in 2011, he insisted on writing a personal letter of apology to Uefa. There is an anguished, almost childlike penitence there, one that in our current age of faux-emoting and corporate non-apologies feels almost refreshing. Rooney does not just request forgiveness; he supplicates and begs for it, almost as if the pain of sinning is worse than the punishment.

Take, by way of further example, an interview Rooney conducted to promote his new Amazon documentary. Most of the media coverage centred on his admissions of alcohol misuse at the height of his fame: not a new