John with big bro Wayne.
He will need a miracle to match the £37million England
superstar Wayne is reported to be worth or ever get the £5m a year
Manchester United pay their ace striker.
But view the 30-yard screamer John fired in
Macclesfield's midweek defeat at Carlisle and you sense he's at
least on the way.
A great first touch, quick glance up and bang... a
cracking right-footer not unlike another Rooney belter back in 2002
that established Wayne as the then Premier League's youngest scorer
with an Everton goal against Arsenal just five days after his 17th
birthday.
John is 18 and playing in League Two with a club
averaging just 2,212 for home matches.
While Wayne is in Kiev today looking for his 26th
England goal, John will be looking to give new Lincoln manager
Chris Sutton a thing or two to worry about.
Macc boss Keith Alexander insists his Rooney, who likes
to play just behind the front line, does bear a canny resemblance
to Wayne in both style and attitude, and that enough scouts visit
Moss Rose to suggest John may not be there for much longer.
Alexander said: "He's an angry young man, I'll tell you
that, and I suppose you could argue that it's a family trait.
"But that's not such a bad thing. Just like Wayne, John
is never afraid to have a go at those around him and that's because
he is a winner.
"It's difficult for the lad given his name, but he
copes very well.
"He used to live with Wayne when he first came here but
has since moved out and is moving his career forward, too.
"Basically, he is a very good footballer. I had to
protect him last season. I left him out of the side because we just
weren't good enough.
"That wasn't his fault. But he's come in now and
against Lincoln he'll be one of about six under 20-year-olds in my
team.
"That's what life is like here - a long way from
Wayne's world. But in the future I think John will become a very
good player in a very good team.
"Wayne has been to watch him a few times but stays in
the shadows as much as he can. John is much the same - a very shy
lad."
At the tiny Moss Rose ground, players enjoy a pre-match
meal and will travel overnight to, say, Torquay, but generally
speaking it's a case of throw your boots over your shoulder and
turn up at the ground an hour or two before the game.
Wayne could give up five weeks' pay to keep
Macclesfield going for 12 months.
And while it will be a package deal for John next
summer, his brother will be putting heart and soul into winning the
World Cup in South Africa.
That's something else John is unlikely ever to do. For
although he is obviously English by birth he is also eligible to
represent the Republic of Ireland at international level and has
expressed a desire to do so.
So, one way or the other, he could yet end up walking
on to the same pitch as mega rich Wayne.
