Wayne Rooney laughs off the Birmingham City dig as Plymouth Argyle’s first signing was teased

Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker has taken a subtle dig at Birmingham City for not allowing Wayne Rooney to sign during his short spell at St Andrew’s.

Rooney was announced as Plymouth Argyle’s new manager on Saturday afternoon, his first managerial job since leaving the West Midlands club in January. During his short spell with the Blues, the 38-year-old managed 15 games winning just two.

After learning of the news that he had been sacked, Rooney released a statement explaining that he was disappointed he did not have a full transfer window to try and turn around Birmingham’s fortunes. Before being hired by City, the Manchester United legend was manager of Derby County, where he was unable to sign players due to financial difficulties.

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He was also head coach at DC United, where transfers are handled differently. Before starting at Home Park, Rooney was at Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup Final with BBC Sport.

In his immediate reaction to the news, Rooney said: “Yes, very excited. I think obviously as Argyle’s new head coach it was quite a process with a lot of managers being interviewed for the job and luckily the club found that I was the best person for the job and now I’m delighted to I’m also getting to know the players and the staff and I hope that…”

Before Rooney could finish his sentence, Lineker chimed in: “Hopefully they sign a footballer you’ve never signed,” which was met with laughter from all four former players in the studio, including Micah Richards and Alan Shearer.