Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has told the press that reports of Wayne Rooney's upcoming departure are false, and that the struggling legend will be staying at the club.
It had been reported that Mourinho had told Rooney to look elsewhere if he wanted first-team football, but this was revealed by the Portuguese boss to be a lie.
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney is "going nowhere", according to manager Jose Mourinho...
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"You can write and say what you want about Wayne, but it is not true," Mourinho told reporters in a press conference.
"I know he's the type of player I need and I know he can play at the top level. I can't make this kind of mental exercise and say what's going to happen at 32, 33, 34 or 35 [Rooney turned 31 this week]."
"What I can say is that he's a very good player, a very important player for us. He's going nowhere."
"We like him, he likes us. He was not happy in the last matches because he was on the bench but I think he is even unhappier when he is not on the bench because he's been injured and has to stay in the stands."
Get #MUFC team news from Jose Mourinho as he provides updates on Chris Smalling and Wayne Rooney: https://t.co/k6km43St9u pic.twitter.com/czCkocQVbe
Rooney has been dropped by England as well as United after a sloppy display against Malta. Mourinho has been shown for certain that dropping him has not rectified the problems at Old Trafford, having seen his side lose 4-0 to Chelsea, but the 31-year-old has failed to work his way back into the starting XI.
Inevitably, the press have quickly swarmed over the potential story of Rooney leaving Manchester. This hysteriaoften leads to falsehoods.
"There are no problems at all, but you need to sell papers and you write lies. Rooney is back Saturday."