Wayne Rooney names ‘future star’ who could save Birmingham City millions

Birmingham City manager Wayne Rooney believes youngster Romelle Donovan has the potential to be a future star for the football club. Still just 16 years of age, the winger came off the bench to make his senior Championship debut on Wednesday night and impressed with his desire on the right flank.

It was a disastrous defeat for Blues midweek and Rooney was concerned with how heads dropped, claiming his players didn’t show enough effort in the final 10 minutes. The same couldn’t be said for Donovan, though, as the new head coach was full of praise for the teenager.

“He’s got really good character. I think when he’s trained, he’s trained really well with us, with a really good mentality,” Rooney told Birmingham World. “He’s got good quality. He’s played two games since I’ve been here for the under-21s and done really well.

“He deserved to be in the squad on Saturday [at Middlesbrough] and again today. I’ve brought him on because I thought he could offer something a bit different. I thought Oliver Burke tired a bit towards the end and Donovan was an option for us.

“He deserves to be with us but of course you need to protect him because he’s a young lad — he’s not going to be in every squad and he’s not going to be involved in every game. Again, though, it’s about building him up to be a future star for the club,” Rooney concluded.

Although still very early on in his career, the fact such a legend of the game has put Donovan in such a light puts the youngster in a brilliant position to progress. Working with the senior squad and getting the odd cameo appearance is bound to do him a world of good.

Donovan could even save Birmingham millions in the future if he reaches his full potential as he’s able to play in an array of positions across the front line. Another opportunity awaits both the 16-year-old and Blues this Saturday as Rooney’s side take on Southampton away from home.