Wayne Rooney says he wanted to play for Ireland

"I was close to doing it."

Wayne Rooney has been speaking about how he almost played for the Republic of Ireland instead of England.

The former Manchester United captain is an England legend. He became the country's youngest ever player when he made his debut for the Three Lions in February 2003.

Rooney went on to make 120 appearances for England, and scored 53 goals - which was a record until Harry Kane surpassed his goal tally.

The former Everton striker, however, almost ended up playing for Ireland.

Rooney was eligible to play for the Boys in Green as his grandparents were Irish.

On the latest episode of the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, Rooney was asked if there was one country he would have represented other than England.

Without hesitation, he said Ireland.

“Mine would be Ireland," Rooney said.

"That was another one of your big mistakes, not playing for Ireland," Keane joked.

Rooney revealed that he was interested in representing Ireland, and possibly would have played for the national team.

Yet, he was called up to the Ireland Under-21s, instead of the senior team - a blunder that resulted in Rooney choosing instead to play for England, the country of his birth.

"Mick (McCarthy) called me up. I spoke to Lee Carsley, and he spoke to Mick, and I was close to doing it and then, they called me up for Ireland Under-21s.

"I was like, ‘I’m not playing for Ireland U21s’. It obviously never happened, and I went to play for England. I would have probably went [and played for Ireland if they put me in the first team]."

"Wow, that was close," Ian Wright said. "So if they put you into the first team, you would've went?"

"Probably, yeah," Rooney said.