Wayne Rooney left 'fuming' as he reveals voicemail from Pep Guardiola live on BBC

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Wayne Rooney has revealed how a phone exchange with Pep Guardiola left him "fuming," after an attempted transfer call backfired in unexpected fashion. Rooney was trying to arrange a loan move for former Manchester City youth player Liam Delap - now at Chelsea - while he was managing at Derby County in 2021.

He explained the sequence of events while on punditry duty for the BBC during Manchester City's FA Cup final victory over Chelsea. "I had Patrick Roberts on loan from Man City at the time. It was actually Liam Delap I was trying to sign on loan for Derby," Rooney said.

"So I called him [Guardiola] and it went to voicemail. I didn't get through, then he called back and I missed it. He left a voicemail saying, 'Hi Wayne, this is Pep, the one who beat you in the Champions League final.' So I was fuming!"

Guardiola's Barcelona beat Rooney's Manchester United in two Champions League finals. The Catalan side won 2-0 in Rome in 2009 before repeating the feat with a 3-1 victory at Wembley two years later, a match in which Rooney scored United's only goal.

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When Guardiola later took charge of Manchester City in 2016, he continued that pattern of success against Rooney. During the former England striker's final years in the Premier League , he experienced further defeats against Guardiola's City side before leaving for DC United in 2018.

Despite the exchange of voicemails, Rooney ultimately failed to agree a deal for Liam Delap or any other City player. In the end, it proved a moot point, with Rooney resigning as Derby manager at the end of the 2021/22 season.

Delap, who joined Chelsea in a £30million deal from Ipswich Town last summer, made a late appearance in Saturday's FA Cup final against his former manager but was unable to stop Guardiola's City side running out 1-0 winners.

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A stunning backheel from Antoine Semenyo midway through the second half proved decisive as City claimed their third FA Cup title under Guardiola. The victory keeps alive their hopes of a domestic double, although they require Arsenal to drop points in their final two matches to have any chance of overhauling them in the Premier League title race.

For Chelsea, meanwhile, it was another difficult afternoon at Wembley, extending their poor run to eight defeats in 12 matches. It also marked their fourth consecutive FA Cup final loss after defeats in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and their seventh successive defeat in a Wembley final, having lost the 2019, 2022 and 2024 League Cup finals.

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