Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has vowed
never to sell Wayne Rooney.
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports , the
manager said he will never reach the position
Rooney has been in and out of United’s side
since Mourinho took over from Louis van Gaal
during the summer, with his last three Premier
League appearances all coming as a substitute.
Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, Mourinho
said, when asked if he would ever be as ruthless
as to sell the 30-year-old: “No, never.
“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.
“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.”
Jose Mourinho believes Rooney’s continous dip
in form is as a result of playing in too many
positions in recent years.
Rooney has tended to drop deeper with age and
successive England managers have regularly
played him in a more withdrawn midfield role,
at times even as a holding player.
Mourinho added: “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.
“He cannot be jumping from No 6 to No 9, or
No 9 to No 10, or No 9 to No 6. For me, he is
an attacking player. What is an attacking
player for me? For him, a 9 or 10.
“Play No 6, 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.”
Mourinho also refuted talk that Rooney’s career
is in decline and is sure he will return to a high
level of performance for club and country.
He said: “I think he’s paying for his success.
He had so many successes in his career. He
brought his expectation levels to such a level
that people probably think he has to perform
in every match, every week, every month,
every season at the same level. For me, that’s
a problem.
“I think in this country it happens to
everyone, it is just your nature, you build
people, you kill people, you build again and
you destroy again! And I think it is just the
nature of the business, especially in football.”
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