During an installment of the Stick to Football podcast, Rooney shared a tale about how he mischievously altered the TV channel from rugby league to The X Factor while Keane was engrossed in watching. Rooney took advantage of Keane’s absence from the room, swiftly concealing the remote to prevent him from reverting the channel. Upon Keane’s return and his realization of the switch, he understandably grew frustrated and even resorted to unplugging the TV in annoyance.

Rooney recounted the incident, stating: “He’s watching rugby league [Keane], so I was sat there – it was Newcastle away – and you had to go out the room to get your food. I think it was my second or third game.”

“He’s gone out, and I’ve changed it over to the The X Factor – and I hid the remote. So, he’s come back in, fuming. And we are sat there, and the next thing I know he’s got up and pulled the plug out of the TV. I don’t even know if he knows, but at about midnight, the club security knocked at my door, and asked for the remote. And I said, ‘I’ve no idea where it is!”‘

During the podcast, Keane, alongside other football figures like Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright, and Jill Scott, shared a hearty laugh.

The former United captain remarked: “I like my rugby league and there was a good game on, and I came back, and I knew the lads were up to no good, the usual, very immature these lads. And I was like, ‘where’s the control’ and of course, f*cking X Factor was on. So anyway, I wouldn’t say I stormed off, but I went to bed, and I knew he [Rooney] had done it.”

“But he was new to the club, so I thought, ‘give him a chance, you don’t want to be too hard on him.’ The next morning, we went down for breakfast, and he comes up to me and goes, ‘Did you find them controls?’ – and I was going to be polite to him but when he said that, I said, ‘go f*ck yourself’. We recovered after that!”

Despite the disagreement, the pair featured in United’s subsequent fixture against Newcastle, where Rooney netted twice in a 3-1 victory. Keane partnered with the striker for 39 matches before departing the club in 2005 following a disagreement with Sir Alex Ferguson.

Manchester United performance and stats

Manchester United is currently 6th in the Premier League with 44 points.

In the last 25 games, it has won 14 times, drawn twice, and lost 9 times. In its last match, Manchester United won 1-2 against Luton Town.​​

It has a positive goal difference after scoring 35 goals and conceding 34.​

Manchester United will play the next match in Premier League against Fulham on Saturday 24th of February in Manchester. The prediction is Manchester United winning the match.​