Coleen set up by tabloids, claims Rooney in book

The England football prodigy Wayne Rooney has lashed out at tabloid newspaper reporters for their hypocrisy during the World Cup, when numerous stories about the drunken antics of the players' wives and girlfriends appeared.

He also claims in his autobiography that his fiancée, Colleen McLoughlin, has repeatedly been "set up" by reporters. In an extract from My Story So Far, published today, the £50,000-a-week star writes: "What we didn't read about was some of the journalists drinking each night. After rubbishing the girls for a few drinks, they went out and got slaughtered. Colleen heard one of them singing a disgusting anti-Liverpool song. That never made the papers."

He adds that his notorious visit to a prostitute happened when he was 16, and living in the Croxteth area of Liverpool, where he grew up. He did, he says, "what lots of lads have always done for a few laughs". He adds, however: "But after my success at Euro 2004, the papers were keen to dig up any old dirt about me, even if it was years old. They didn't make that clear, of course - people thought I was still doing such things."

The Manchester United striker also claims that reporters have tried to "set up" Colleen. He writes: "Once, in Tenerife, one paper managed to get a photo of her dancing with a barman. Lots of people were doing a sort of conga dance in a circle holding hands. But because the photo was cropped so carefully, the rest of the people weren't seen. On the same trip, one paper bribed a man to follow Colleen down the street, and at a certain moment run up and kiss her. She decided to come home two days early because she couldn't stand being harassed anymore."