Manchester United Boss Jose Mourinho: ‘I Will Never Sell Wayne Rooney’

Jose Mourinho has ruled out the possibility of selling Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney. 

Manchester United Boss Jose Mourinho: ‘I Will Never Sell Wayne Rooney’

Rooney, who turns 31 on Monday, started his team’s 4-1 Europa League win over Fenerbahce on Thursday but has been left out of the starting lineup for the last three Premier League matches.

The forward’s decline has led to suggestions that the Reds could attempt to cash in on Rooney, with reported interest surfacing in the lucrative Chinese Super League.

Mourinho, nevertheless, says he would never make the decision to terminate Rooney’s career with United, especially given everything the captain has accomplished with the club since being traded from Everton in 2004.

“No, never. I will never make that decision,” the 53-year-old Portuguese told Sky Sports News. “A player of his stature, a player of his history in the club will never get to a point where the club or manager want to make that decision for him.

Mourinho continued: “I put him on the bench for three matches in a row. That is hard for him, hard for me, so that is being ruthless, to put in my mind the interests of the team in front of the player, prestige, status. In this case even a legend. To put on the bench a player with the numbers he has for club and country is hard.

“But as we were saying before, this is an industry where the people who lead, sometimes in a correct decision, sometimes not correct decisions, but in our mind the decisions we think is the best for the team.”

The United manager also revealed that Rooney ‘hid’ a thigh injury he suffered during the win over Fenerbahce, and played the full 90 minutes of that game. This injury ruled the captain out of United’s 4-0 Premier league loss to Chelsea on Sunday.

 Mourinho added that he believes a constant change of position for Rooney in recent years, particularly under Louis van Gaal and Roy Hodgson with England, has contributed to his decline as a player.

“I think it then created a bit of a doubt in relation to his role, to his position, to his future and I think players especially in moments of less confidence, they need to be clear in his head,” Mourinho said.

“He cannot be jumping from number six to number nine, or number nine to number 10, or number nine to number six. For me, he is an attacking player.

“Play number six, play in midfield, not with me unless we need it and unless we ask him to do that, but with me, I want the ideas completely clear. He is a second striker, plays behind the striker or as a striker. That’s what I think is Wayne Rooney.”

 Rooney recently announced he would retire from the English national team following the 2018 Russia World Cup.

 WATFORD, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 18: Wayne Rooney of Manchester United (L) argues with referee Michael Oliver during the Premier League match between Watford and Manchester United at Vicarage Road on September 18, 2016 in Watford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)