Birmingham City could save millions as Wayne Rooney aims to repeat Derby County trick

Wayne Rooney has already made a big change in his first full day as Birmingham City's new head coach.

Rooney was appointed Blues boss on Wednesday, and was unveiled to the press on Thursday afternoon. He had arrived at the training ground at 7.00 am, and met the players for the first time on Thursday.

Several players missed the opportunity to meet the Manchester United legend, because of it being the international break. Jordan James, Juninho Bacuna and Neil Etheridge who are away with Wales, Curaçao and the Philippines respectively,

For those who were present at the Wast Hills Training Ground, they were met with some changes already. The 37-year-old already wants to get his feet under the table, and some players could now benefit from opportunities they weren't afforded under John Eustace.

In his press-conference, Rooney revealed that two new academy players have trained with his squad today. He said: "I really enjoy developing young players, we have had two lads training with us from the academy.

"Straight away I wanted them training with us, I want to see where they're at, I want to develop players as quick as we can."

The identity of the two players was not shared, however it is believed that Romelle Donovan is one of the players in question. He was part of the first-team in pre-season, and featured in two match day squads last term. Rooney was pictured giving him instructions in a gallery of photos uploaded from his first training session, and he is one of the players that could now get an opportunity.

During his time in charge of Derby County, Rooney was forced to field several Rams youngsters who later went on to become established first-team players, and he could have the same effect at Birmingham.

Several players of interest could be the likes of Brandon Khela made his league debut against Huddersfield Town earlier this month, and there are several members of the under-21's squad who are knocking on the door.