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Rooney, Simeone, Zidane and other big-name managers with footballing sons

Zinedine Zidane with sons Enzo, Luka, Theo and Elyaz

Kai Rooney, Luca Zidane and Giovanni Simeone are just some of the sons of big-name managers forging a career for themselves in football right now.

Anyone who ever played Sunday League football as a child will know that it is definitely not easy being a manager's son.

The professional game has seen plenty of father and son duos, though, with the likes of Harry and Jamie Redknapp, Brian and Nigel Clough, and Yohann and Jordi Cruyff all springing to mind.
It sometimes doesn't feel as common as it used to be, but there is no shortage of big-name managers with footballing sons kicking about within the game.

Zinedine Zidane

For many, Zinedine Zidane is the ultimate superstar player who was also able to transition that brilliance into management.

Zidane won the lot as a player with France, Juventus and Real Madrid, then enjoyed massive success as manager of Los Blancos too.

That's a well of footballing talent that his four sons appear to have tapped into as well, with all four of them embarking on a career in the game.
The eldest, Enzo, is a midfielder who currently plays for Ligue 2 club Rodez, while Luca is a goalkeeper currently making his mark in La Liga with Rayo Vallecano.
Midfielder Theo (19) and left-back Elyaz (16) are currently part of Real Madrid's youth set-up.

Diego Simeone

Zidane is not the only great manager from a Madrid club with footballing offspring, though. Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone can also make that boast.
The best of them is Giovanni Simeone, who has made a name for himself in Serie A with clubs such as Fiorentina and Genoa. He is currently enjoying a brilliant season with Hellas Verona, where he is on-track for 20 Serie A goals this season.

Gianluca Simeone is also a striker who is toiling away at Spanish fourth tier side CD Ibiza. Giuliano Simeone, also a forward, is part of the Atletico Madrid B squad.

It's hard not to note that the sons of Diego Simeone - the greatest defensive coach in football - have all decided to be attackers.

Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney is turning out to be a pretty decent manager at Derby, but it's his former club Manchester United who have snapped up his son Kai.

Rooney Sr is Man Utd's record goalscorer, and there are early indications that Kai at least has a chance of following in those footsteps.
Kai is just 12 years old right now, so don't expect to see him breaking through any time soon, but he has certainly made his mark with some prolific goalscoring for the Red Devils' under-12s.
That includes scoring all four goals in a 5-4 defeat to rivals Liverpool.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

While we are discussing goalscorers who left an impression at Manchester United: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a footballing son.

Noah Solskjaer is a 21-year-old midfielder who claims to base his game on Michael Carrick and he is cutting his teeth back home in Norway.

He is with Kristiansund, which is the same club where he played his youth football, but he is struggling to make his breakthrough.
A loan spell at Songdal has not gone well, with him playing more games for their B side than their first team.
Solskjaer also has a footballing daughter too, by the way, Karna. She plays for Manchester United women.

Mauricio Pochettino

When current Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino was appointed Southampton manager in 2013, he signed his then 13-year-old son Maurizio up to the club's youth team.

Two years later, Pochettino Sr moved on to Tottenham, and his son joined the Londoners' academy instead.
He later signed two professional deals with Spurs before being released the summer after, completely coincidentally, his dad left the club.
Maurizio Pochettino, who is a winger, joined Watford on a free transfer and made one appearance for them as a substitute last season.

Sergio Conceicao

When you're manager of Porto there isn't really much room for sentiment. You are expected to win every match and deliver the Primeira Liga title or get yourself out of town.
So, when Sergio Conceicao found his side in need of a winner away at Estoril, the fact he turned to his son, Francisco, was significant.
Francisco certainly delivered for his dad too, pinching an 89th-minute winner after good work from Luis Diaz, who is now starring for Liverpool.

The 19-year-old has played 35 times already for Porto, which suggests he certainly has some kind of future in the game ahead of him.

Jurgen Klinsmann

Sometimes a name is all you need in football, and that looks like it is the case for Jonathan Klinsmann, the son of Jurgen.
Jonathan is a goalkeeper who started his senior career at Hertha Berlin, although he never made an appearance for them despite playing regularly for their second team.
A spell in the Swiss Super League with St Gallen didn't provide a breakthrough either. That convinced him to head to the MLS and take advantage of his American citizenship. He joined LA Galaxy but has not made an impression there either.

He was a regular for the US youth teams while Jurgen Klinsmann was the coach of the senior squad though. Coincidence, we're sure.

It should come as little surprise, then, that the Koeman footballing family has produced a third generation.

Ronald Koeman

New Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman comes from fine footballing stock. He himself was a brilliant player for Barcelona and his younger brother Erwin was also an international. Their father, Martin, was also capped by the Netherlands, albeit only once.
Ronald Koeman Jr, a goalkeeper, is not going to reach the level of the other Koemans, but he is still doing better than most of us.
He is 26 now and all of his games have been in the Dutch second tier.

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