Kai Rooney, eldest son of Wayne Rooney, scores four as Manchester United’s U18s win 6-0 at Burnley

Four goals in 44 minutes. On Tuesday afternoon Manchester United’s under-18s won 6-0 at Burnley in the U18 Premier League, and Kai Rooney scored the first four of them. Wayne Rooney’s eldest son is 16 and turns 17 on Monday.

His four goals, in order:

• 22nd minute: a left-foot finish inside the box;
• 49th: a penalty, after a foul by the Burnley captain, Dylan Morison;
• 63rd: a header from a Jay McEvoy corner;
• 66th: a right-foot shot, after a ball won by the press.

Jaume Camacho, who had already scored four against Liverpool a week earlier, and Ajayi added the last two, on 82 and 84 minutes.

This is his first season at the level. Kai Rooney joined the club’s academy in December 2020 and has only been playing under-18 football since October: three appearances, five goals, one assist in 218 minutes, according to his club profile. He scored United’s only goal against Nottingham Forest on 17 October (1-1), then set one up in the 6-3 over Liverpool on the 24th.

What it changes

The academy side are having a solid season: Darren Fletcher’s under-18s sit second in the northern section, six wins in eight, and travel to Blackburn on Saturday. The first team are 16th in the Premier League on seven points from eight games, after Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth, and go to Chelsea on Saturday.

I don’t see a bet in it: four goals at 16, in youth football, don’t feed into any price.