Mourinho has full faith in United captain Rooney
Wayne Rooney will remain as Manchester United captain and Jose Mourinho cannot understand why so many question the forward’s capabilities.
No longer the lung-busting striker that broke onto the scene as a teenager, the 30-year-old Rooney accepted in recent months that a future in midfield beckons.
It was a role Rooney performed for England at Euro 2016 having ended the season there at United under Louis van Gaal, although successor Mourinho believes the Red Devils will get the best out him in attack.
Those comments upon the Portuguese’s unveiling raised fresh questions about how best to utilise Rooney, but Mourinho has big plans and a lot of trust in his skipper.
“I am quite surprised with so many question marks around this guy,” the United boss said.
“I know that at the national team level you have this capacity of trying to make things complicated for yourself, so what happened around him in the summer was not a surprise for me.
“But in my club we are not going to have that. He is the club captain, he is the manager’s captain, he is the players’ captain.
“I trust him a lot. I think he’s going to be a very important player for me and no problem for him.
“He knows that he has to work hard, he knows that but I think that is nothing new in his career. Everything he got I see nobody offer him, he had to fight for it.
“With me it is not going to be different. But, yes, he is my captain.”
Rooney’s position in the starting line-up may be in doubt, but his Old Trafford future never looked in jeopardy.
The same cannot be said for some of his United teammates, with speculation growing around a number of players as Mourinho shapes his squad.
Juan Mata’s position has come under particular scrutiny having been sold by Chelsea when Mourinho was Blues manager in January 2014.