Wayne Rooney responds to claims he helped himself to Nike memorabilia at Wembley

MANCHESTER UNITED FORWARD Wayne Rooney and Nike have denied claims that the England striker mistreated property in a hospitality suite at Wembley Stadium in May 2014.

Footage obtained by the Sunday Mirror appears to show the forward placing several items from Nike’s hospitality box at the national stadium into a bin liner, although it is unclear whether these artefacts were removed or if the 30-year-old had permission to take them.

Rooney responded to the claims via his Facebook account, posting: “Allegations published by the Sunday Mirror that were presented to my management team, Nike and the FA are denied by all, are wrong and total rubbish. The matter is now with my lawyers so can’t say anymore at this time.”

Earlier, a spokesman for the player, told the paper: “There is no truth whatsoever in the anonymous claims which the Sunday Mirror has put to us. They are false and defamatory of Wayne Rooney.

“Wayne Rooney took no items whatsoever from the Nike box.”

Nike have also moved to reject the claims. “This story is not true. We can confirm that nothing was taken from the Nike box,” a spokesperson for the sportswear company said.

Allegations published by the Sunday Mirror that were presented to my management team, Nike and the FA are denied… https://t.co/e3DcJhUadv

— Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney) March 20, 2016

Although the FA offered no official comment, the Sunday Mirror quote “a senior security boss” as having said that a security guard “was with Wayne all evening, as is normal practice”.

The news comes in the wake of security guard Mariusz Mozgiel admitting two counts of theft in 2015, having stolen PlayStation, speakers and controllers, for which he was sentenced to four months in jail.