Rooney returns to Match of the Day leaner and with a new United show after summer surgery

Wayne Rooney returns to the Match of the Day studio for the 2026/27 Premier League season visibly transformed, having undergone surgery and shed a significant amount of weight during the summer break. The former Manchester United and England striker will appear alongside host Mark Chapman and fellow pundit Alan Shearer when the BBC programme resumes on Saturday, 22 August at 10.20pm.

Rooney’s physical change first caught widespread attention during his punditry work at the World Cup, where viewers watching on BBC noticed he appeared considerably slimmer and clean-shaven compared to previous appearances. Social media reaction was largely positive, with fans commenting on how healthy the 39-year-old looked. “Rooney looking proper healthy and noticeably lost loads of weight. Great to see,” wrote one viewer, while others echoed similar sentiments across platforms.

Beyond his BBC role, Rooney has also taken on a new presenting project. He is co-hosting Stick to United with Wayne Rooney alongside Manchester United content creator Mark Goldbridge, a show dedicated entirely to the club. The programme sits under Gary Neville’s Overlap network, which Neville founded in 2021 and has since expanded into a broad sports media operation.

Neville purchased Goldbridge’s YouTube channels — including The United Stand and That’s Football — for a seven-figure sum in April, folding them into the Overlap portfolio. Stick to United has been produced as part of a distribution deal with Disney+, which will carry 50 episodes of the show this season alongside 40 episodes of the existing Stick to Football series.

Neville described the new show as something that “expands our reach without compromising our identity,” signalling confidence that Rooney and Goldbridge’s combined audience will translate to the wider Overlap platform.

On the Match of the Day front, the opening weekend of Premier League action includes Manchester United’s away fixture against newly-promoted Hull City, a match Rooney and his fellow pundits will have the opportunity to dissect on his first night back in the studio.