Jose Mourinho has
confirmed Wayne Rooney will remain at Manchester United for the rest of the
season despite reports linking him with a move to the Chinese Super League.
The Chinese transfer
window does not close until the end of February and the England forward’s name
has been linked repeatedly with astonishing offers from a country where
professional football is enjoying an explosion in financial investment.
But Mourinho insisted
Tuesday that Rooney, 31, will stay in his squad until at least the end of the
season, despite having long since lost his status as an automatic first-choice
at the club where he has been such a key player for the last 13 years.
“Yes,” said Mourinho
when asked if Rooney, who recently became United’s all-time leading
goal-scorer, will see out the season at Old Trafford.
“We don’t have players
in, we don’t have players out, we lost two players from the squad,” the United
manager added.
“You can say Memphis
Depay (who joined Lyon in the January transfer window) and Morgan Schneiderlin
(signed by Everton) did not play a lot, but the reality is they played some
matches, and when they did, others didn’t, and when they played, others were
rested.
“When Schneiderlin
played, it meant (Paul) Pogba, (Michael) Carrick or (Ander) Herrera didn’t. You
lose players sometimes it does not look important because they were not
first-choice players, but in the end they’re important if a club is going to
have a difficult season.”
United are still active
in four competitions — the Premier League, League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League
— and Portuguese boss Mourinho has spoken repeatedly about his concerns at the
lack of numbers in his squad.
Even though Rooney has
seen his name linked with a move that could be worth up to £1 million a week in
China, Mourinho has fought to keep him at the club, at least for the remaining
four months of the campaign.
However, it seems
increasingly likely the veteran England forward could still be heading for the
Far East in the summer.
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