Wayne Rooney has revealed that he would lock himself away and drink during his playing career as a way of coping with the pressures of fame.

Rooney gave an honest and open account of the struggles he went through in interviews with the Daily Mail and The Times ahead of the release of an Amazon Prime documentary 'Rooney'.

Rooney joined Man United when he was 18 and went on to be their record goalscorer

The 36-year-old shot to fame as a teenager when he broke into the Everton team before earning a move to Manchester United.

He went on to become their record goalscorer as well as England's in a trophy-laden career and is widely-regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation.

Many of his issues over the years have been well documented and the now Derby manager opened up on his binge drinking sessions.

"I had made a lot of mistakes when I was younger, some in the press and some not in the press, whether that's fighting or whatever," Rooney said.

Rooney has opened up on his struggles ahead of the release of a new Amazon Prime documentary

"For me to deal with that, deal with stuff that was in the newspapers, deal with the manager at the time, deal with family at the time, was very difficult.

"In my early years at Manchester United, probably until we had my first son, Kai, I locked myself away really. I never went out.

"There were times you'd get a couple of days off from football and I would actually lock myself away and just drink, to try to take all that away from my mind.

"Locking myself away made me forget some of the issues I was dealing with. It was like a binge."

Rooney added: "It was just a build-up of everything, pressure of playing for your country, playing for Manchester United, the pressure of some of the stuff which came out in the newspapers about my personal life, just trying to deal with all that pressure which builds up.

Rooney was among the greatest players of his generation

"I was trying to figure out how to deal with it by myself. Growing up on a council estate, you would never actually go and speak to anyone.

"You would always find a way to deal with it yourself. It was trying to cope with it yourself rather than asking for help."