Wayne Rooney: remember him?

He’s been off the radar in recent years, but popped up a week ago as the new manager of Birmingham City in English football’s second tier.

David Beckham?

Never off the radar and now in our faces thanks to his Netflix documentary from which he has gathered another half-million followers.

Thinking of Rooney while watching Becks’ story unfold, it’s impossible not to compare and contrast the pair’s post-career fortunes.

And in doing so, to realise that although they played together, each represents a different age in football’s evolution.

Ironically, it’s Rooney – the younger man by 10 years although he may look older – who is seen as upholding old-fashioned values, while Becks is the consummate fashion icon.

If Rooney is a throwback, Becks has always been ahead of the curve as the modern game morphs into the entertainment industry.

Rooney, who turned down the riches of Saudi Arabia for this job, has been labelled the last working-class hero.

On the pitch, for all his skill as a striker, he was ever willing to muck in, graft, chase and tackle.

In contrast, Becks would glide through games, giving the impression he didn’t want to get his hands dirty.

He preferred to let the ball do the running, and got away with it because of the accuracy of his passing. He could certainly bend it.

Jurgen Klopp’s heavy metal football would not have been for him: just a light orchestra with a drum for a set-piece.

All that said, there are also many similarities – some uncanny – in both their formative and playing years.

Both announced themselves with goals for the ages. Of Rooney’s wonder strike as a 16-year-old for Everton against Arsenal, Arsene Wenger said: “He’s the biggest talent I’ve seen in England by far.”

Beckham’s grand entrance came with a goal from the halfway line as a 20-year-old, after which he became a household name.

Both have survived celebrityhood, felt the full blast of Fergie’s ‘hairdryer’ – and in Beckham’s case – an infamous boot.

And both still bear the scars of public opprobrium stoked by shameful tabloid intrusions.

At times, there were as many headlines off the pitch as on it. Becks especially suffered after his marriage to Posh Spice.

Yet in spite of all this, both have stayed married for two decades.

For England, they were members of the ill-fated Golden Generation and were red-carded in separate World Cup quarter-finals.

Both were also acutely tonsorially-sensitive: Rooney seemingly having as many hair transplants as Becks had styles. Now Roo sports a beard.

They shared both working-class beginnings and Manchester United careers under a piercing spotlight.

Yet for all that, they could be on different planets now.

Lauded for taking Lionel Messi to America, Becks continues to hobnob with the rich and famous.

Rooney, meanwhile, faces a winter in the less-rarified realms of Sunderland, Blackburn and Plymouth as he battles to convince a doubting public that he can cut it as a manager.

He came back from DC United in Washington having failed to make the MLS playoffs.

Before that he was at Derby who slid into the third tier after being docked points for fiddling the books.

None of that was Rooney’s fault. In fact, he emerged a hero, battling impossible odds.

But you may well ask: What’s a guy like him doing in places like this?

Looking at Beckham, you will raise another eyebrow.

Football is in Rooney’s marrow and if he can no longer play, he wants to be manager. Becks has taken the ownership route.

At Derby, Roo threw himself into what was a doomed task. Unable to sign players, he promoted juniors and almost guided them to an amazing escape.

He worked such long hours he often slept in his office.

For Becks, it has not all been smooth sailing either – even in the tropical environs of Florida: stadium troubles almost driving him to distraction.

Now he’s part of a team of rich boys building a new one – and a club – at Inter Miami.

He bought a slice of the franchise for $25 million and it could be worth $500m if it all works out. Messi was just the headline act.

With the United States finally warming to football and hosting the next World Cup, the future looks rosy for the son of an appliance repair man.

For Rooney, the outlook is less clear. Birmingham, so long a basket case, have also had new investment.

Once owned by Hong Kong hairdresser Carson Yeung who ended up in jail, they’ve endured multiple failed ownerships.

But a pre-season takeover by an American consortium and the appointment of Gary Cook, who made his name at Nike with Air Jordan and then Manchester City, promises to turn it around.

Rooney’s task is to emerge from the shadow of Aston Villa. For decades, Birmingham have been the second club in England’s second city.

At least, in Miami, Becks has no rival.

It will be fascinating to see how the future pans out for these two former Devils.

They survived the cruel crossover of two distinct eras and their destinies once seemed intertwined. But now they’ve set their own separate courses.

How far they go may tell us a lot about the future of the game.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.