Jose Mourinho expects Manchester United to ship Rooney abroad

Jose Mourinho

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho expects Wayne Rooney to be sold to a leading foreign club by Manchester United, if they fail in their attempts to convince the star to stay at Old Trafford, with Chelsea having given up the chase for the star-striker following the no-business stance with a direct Premier League rival by the Champions.

Rooney was subject of a number of failed bids by Chelsea in the summer, before United informed Chelsea that no matter what the price, Rooney won’t be sold to a direct rival, even if that involved the risk of retaining an unsettled player in the squad. With Mourinho, still hoping to capture the striker in the summer, when Rooney will be in the last year of his deal, as he plans to revamp the Chelsea forward line, although now they might have to look elsewhere, following United’s stance.

Mourinho will not be able to directly confront Rooney, as he had hoped, following the absence of the English striker from the United ranks to travel to Chelsea for their game on Sunday, due to a groin injury, which has seen him train alone in recent days, after returning from a warm-weather training in Egypt.

Mourinho introduced the subject of Rooney when quizzed about whether he would swap his squad for United’s ahead of the forthcoming contest.

“Manchester United made it clear in the summer they don’t swap or sell players to their direct rivals,” he said. “They were clear in the way they approached the Rooney situation. For them it’s pretty clear. They don’t swap. They don’t sell.”

When further asked if he thinks the scenario will change in the summer, he said: “No. They were very clear. I think maybe this summer they will try to sell to a non-direct rival. But they were very clear [about Chelsea].” While European clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, who have expressed an interest in the striker in the past, might be considered United’s direct rivals in continental competition, Mourinho subsequently clarified that he had meant they would not sell to “domestic” suitors.

United boss David Moyes had claimed that he “would not talk about managers and players at other clubs”, while his opposite numbers were directed towards him, although Moyes did add: “I completely disagree [with Mourinho's assessment]. I can only tell you I disagree, although Rooney will go to Brazil [for the World Cup]. Only time will give you the answer about Wayne.”

Talks between the striker and the club have stalled,with Rooney holding out to enter into negotiations after the the World Cup, when United’s stand in the league will also be clear, as they currently languish 5 points behind the Champions League places.

Chelsea will be looking to open a 12-point gap from United, if they win on Sunday, although Mourinho still believes that Moyes will finish his first season at United in the top four. He further doubts that the champions ability to make waves in the transfer market will depend on Champions League football.

“David is the right guy for the job,” he said. “With the stability they are going to give him for sure, he will get results as the consequence of his quality and the consequence of the stability. If you ask my opinion, I keep thinking they will be [in the top four].

“But if they don’t, every player knows it’s an occasional situation. It’s not a situation that will last forever, where they go to United and, for two or three or four years, don’t play Champions League football. It’s not the case but I think they will finish top four in the Premier League. With new players, do you believe they are not working on that?

“I believe they have the targets clearly identified and, with a choice of bringing signings in now to close people’s mouths or waiting a bit to bring in exactly who they want, they’d prefer to wait. But sooner or later – sooner being now and later in the summer – they will bring exactly the players David wants. When a giant is sleeping, the giant is never [really] sleeping. Be careful.” That served as a warning to his own players, who are currently on a five-match winning run in all competitions, before a fixture Mourinho considers “especially dangerous”.

Jose Mourinho’s £20.75m signing, Nemanja Matic is set to start on the bench for the game against United as he looks to register his 100th League win, having first won against Sir Alex’s United on 15th August 2004, while Chelsea have loaned Ryan Bertrand to Aston Villa and Michel Essien is set to leave in the next week for a Serie A club.

Although, Mourinho has denied that he was disappointed after having been overlooked by the hierarchy at Old Trafford in the summer, he did accept that he was close to Sir Alex and received a phone call from him, last April informing him of his intention to step down.

“I only knew a couple of weeks before the announcement because my friend was nice to me and trusted me completely,” he said. “He said he wanted me to know before I read about it in the press.

“I was afraid because I was sure that someone might leak it and the boss might think it had come from me, so I was a bit under pressure.

“At the time I was not committed to [rejoining] Chelsea but I wanted to come and Chelsea had already expressed a desire for me to come back. I had that door, not open, but ajar. I am where I want to be and I want to go nowhere else.

“I have the job I want to have. After [Real Madrid] I wanted to return to England and, if possible, Chelsea, this specific club. If it was not Chelsea, I would be here in another club but, when the door of my club opened for me, I had the job I wanted.”