Rooney admits he is 'still in shock' about the passing of Sir Bobby Charlton

Wayne Rooney paid a moving tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton after learning the Manchester United and England great had passed away during his return to management on Saturday.

New Birmingham boss Rooney was leading his side at Middlesbrough, who are managed by his former United team-mate Michael Carrick, and both were clearly still shaken by the news when they discussed it soon after Middlesbrough’s 1-0 win. Charlton’s family said he ‘passed peacefully in the early hours of Saturday morning.’ He was 86.

‘I'm still in shock,’ said a visibly emotional Rooney, who broke Sir Bobby’s goalscoring records for both United and England.

‘I saw his image on the big screen at the start of the second half and didn't know what was happening. He was a legend but more importantly a great human being.

‘He was always great with me during our many conversations about football and different things in life. He was a huge inspiration to me and a lot of players at United. It is a loss to football and his family.

‘I have huge respect for what he went through. He experienced the Munich air disaster in 1958. Then he won the World Cup in 1966 and the European Cup in 1968.

‘When I broke his United goalscoring record at Stoke in January 2017, he was there in the dressing room after the game. He congratulated me and then said a few harsher words – but joking of course. He will be hugely missed.’

Carrick, meanwhile, recalled Charlton’s visit to the United training ground in February 2008, around the time of the 50th anniversary of the Munich tragedy.

Charlton survived the crash, in which 23 people died, and said many years later that there wasn’t ‘a day that goes by I don’t remember what happened and the people who are gone.’

‘The one that stands out for me was