The Portuguese admits he could never force the long-serving Red Devils captain out of Old Trafford
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has vowed to never sell Wayne Rooney, despite heavy speculation about the England international’s future at Old Trafford.
The striker, who turns 31 next week, has not started any of United’s past four games – the latest following an injury prior to the Chelsea match – but Mourinho insists he will not dismiss the Red Devils captain.
Rooney has come under criticism for his early season form – having scored only against Bournemouth so far this campaign – and some reports have suggested the player could be set to earn as much as £500,000-a-week in China.
However, should Rooney decide to stay put at the end of the campaign, if he considers his future, there will be a place for him at United.
“I will never make that decision. A player of his stature, a player of his history in the club will never go to point where club or manager want to make that decision for him.” said Mourinho.
“I put him [Rooney] 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 legend. To put on 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 leads, sometimes in a correct decision, sometimes not correct decisions, but in our mind the decisions we think is the best for the team.”
