A Liverpool trial... in his Everton kit! Wayne Rooney's secrets revealed in documentary on BBC that will change the nation's image

• A new BBC documentary is set to chronicle Wayne Rooney's rise from humble beginnings in Croxteth to being Man United and England captain
• The documentary will air on BBC One at 9pm on Monday, October 5 
• Rooney is one of the most naturally gifted English footballers in history
• Guest testimonies from the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard heap praise onto Rooney's abilities
• However, Sir Alex Ferguson's absence from the show is notable  
• It's not too late to sign up for MailOnline's fantasy football game 

By Ian Ladyman for the Daily Mail

Published: 18:00 EST, 28 September 2015 | Updated: 07:55 EST, 29 September 2015

Despite the impressive cast of football glitterati scattered through the BBC’s forthcoming Wayne Rooney documentary, the most enduring impression is the sheer quality of his football as a young man.

Rooney, at the age of almost 30, remains a very talented footballer. As of earlier this month, the Manchester United captain is England’s record international goalscorer.

Footage shown in Rooney — The Man Behind the Goals reminds us, however, of a talent that, at one time at least, was almost unique on our shores. We have had other promising players since then. Jack Wilshere and Ross Barkley have caught our attention.

L-R: Sir Bobby Charlton, Wayne Rooney and Gary Lineker are the three highest-scoring England strikers

Rooney scores his 50th international goal for England from the penalty spot against San Marino 

Rooney scores a stunning overhead kick against Manchester City in the Premier League back in 2011 

The striker has won multiple honours with Manchester United, including the 2008 Champions League title

Rooney and his young family pose with Lineker during the BBC documentary about his life

Rooney and wife Coleen play with their sons Kai (left) and Klay (right) on their sofa during the documentary

Nothing like Rooney, though. Nothing like the teenager who once turned up for a Liverpool trial in an Everton kit, the one shown on footage here rampaging through the junior ranks and into the Everton, United and England first teams.

It is this that gives this programme an intriguing and slightly melancholic edge. We should be careful before we suggest Rooney will retire with potential unfulfilled. He has endless domestic medals, a Champions League and now an England record that eluded even the programme’s narrator, Gary Lineker.

Rooney is a different player now, though. He has a different physique, a different style and skill-set, even if Zlatan Ibrahimovic remains a dedicated admirer.

‘I would love to have played with him,’ said the great Swedish forward. ‘I will just have to continue watching him instead.’

Ibrahimovic joins a cast list that also includes Steven Gerrard, Cristiano Ronaldo, Frank Lampard, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville.

More of the latest Wayne Rooney news and updates 

Rooney's former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo also spoke about the striker

The bear-all behind-the-scenes documentary sheds a new light on the England and United captain  

Devoted father Rooney plays football with son Kai in their back garden during the BBC show 

Rooney's sons play in their own personalised caravan as the show delves into the forward's personal life

Lineker also talks to Sven Goran Eriksson, Roy Hodgson and David Moyes, even if there is a huge Sir Alex Ferguson-shaped hole in the programme, a legacy perhaps of the discord between player and manager that marked the end of the Scot’s Old Trafford reign.

Lineker has said previously that the programme is ‘revelatory’ and suggested it would change the nation’s image of its national team captain.

That may be overstating things a little but access to the Rooney home in Cheshire and to his family and friends was clearly generous.

During his Everton days, Rooney is congratulated on scoring by former manager David Moyes (right) in 2003

Rooney, as a prodigious young talent for The Toffees, shoots to score against Arsenal at Highbury in 2003

Rooney shows Lineker the waste ground in Croxteth he returned to play on with his mates the evening after scoring as a 16-year-old on his Everton debut against Arsenal and the wall outside wife Coleen’s childhood house he used to sit on hoping to snatch moments with her.

Their first date was at the cinema and while we learn that he proposed marriage on a garage forecourt it was a rather unromantic gesture subsequently atoned for by regular verses of poetry. ‘The poems have died down a bit now,’ shrugs Coleen.

Rooney met his wife Coleen when the pair were both at secondary school and married in 2008

Coleen pushes her two sons Kai and Klay on a mini bike in the garden at the Rooney household 

Rooney controls the ball on his own personal tennis court as son Kai watches on during the documentary

Rooney has played alongside some of United's greatest players, including former winger Ryan Giggs (left) 

During the programme, Rooney’s occasional appearances on the front pages are briefly referred to. Credit to Lineker for seeking balance. ‘He was young and did some stupid things like most lads,’ says his wife.

It is, though, the football for which this programme should be remembered. Giggs, now Rooney’s assistant manager, recalls the first time he faced him, at Old Trafford more than a decade ago.

‘He knocked the ball past me,’ says Giggs. ‘And I was like, “Woah! What happened there?” ’ 

Kai holds up a shirt worn by former England captain Steven Gerrard, part of Rooney's extensive collection

Rooney enjoys some downtime at his Cheshire home with a game of pool in the reveal-all documentary

Kai pipes up his opinion to his parents as Rooney takes a break from the pool table to listen 

Rooney carries son Klay while Coleen prepares herself a drink in the family kitchen at their home

 Former United right-back Gary Neville (left) has commended Rooney's bubbly personality 

Neville, meanwhile, talks with his England coach’s hat on to reveal how Rooney is now very much the glue holding a typically eclectic national squad together. ‘He is everybody’s mate,’ said Neville. 

One of the hour-long programme’s highlights is the moment Lineker and Rooney meet with Sir Bobby Charlton in a suite at Old Trafford. Watching England’s top three goalscorers (48, 49 & 50) talking is moving stuff.

Charlton played for United until he was 35 and beyond. It is hard to see Rooney doing likewise and it is tempting to wonder if an early start in the professional game and a career doing the hard yards normally outside of the forward’s resume will eventually take its toll.

Rooney's stunning contribution to the England team has often been criminally understated  

Rooney and former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo (left) celebrate winning the CarlingCup back in 2006

‘When he was playing with Cristiano Ronaldo, all the work was done by Wayne,’ opines Ibrahimovic, a rather different kind of striker. ‘But he didn’t get the credit because Ronaldo was scoring all the goals.’

This isn’t a programme designed to celebrate hard work, of course. It’s a programme about much rarer gifts.

Towards the end there is mischief, too, when Ronaldo says: ‘Maybe we will play together again. Who knows?’

That line in itself is sure to get this production the publicity it craves and perhaps deserves. 

Rooney — The Man Behind The Goals will be shown on BBC1 next Monday at 9pm.

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