Rooney hails new regime at Old Trafford

Captain says new manager has restored club’s drive

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney believes new manager Jose Mourinho has brought a winning mentality back to the club.

The Portuguese – who has 17 major trophies on his CV, including eight league titles in four countries and two Champions League triumphs with different clubs – replaced Louis van Gaal this summer.

Although his predecessor won the FA Cup in his final match in charge the feeling at Old Trafford was that the club was lacking the drive provided by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Rooney said Mourinho’s arrival has corrected that.

“He’s come in, he’s been great with the players. The training has been hard but enjoyable,” he said.

The 30-year-old starts the season needing just five goals to break United’s all-time scoring record held by Sir Bobby Charlton.

Rooney described Mourinho as having “a good balance of being the manager but also being a friend to the players”, but that may not be an opinion shared by some after the Portuguese reportedly began his summer clear-out with up to nine players said to be on their way out of Old Trafford.

Several national newspapers suggested Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who announced his retirement from international football with Germany, will be the highestprofile victim a little more than a year after he joined from Bayern Munich.

Defenders Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Tim Fosu-Mensah, Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair are also said to have been told they have no future.

Midfielders Adnan Januzaj and Andreas Pereira and forwards James Wilson and Will Keane make up the reported nine.

Since his arrival Mourinho has brought in defender Eric Bailly, midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan and striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and is understood to be pursuing a potentially record-breaking deal for Juventus’ France midfielder Paul Pogba.

Rooney was part of the squad which flew out to Gothenburg for today’s friendly against Galatasary, which is likely to see Ibrahimovic make his first appearance in a United shirt.

Picture: AP. Wayne Rooney says training under Jose Mourinho has been hard but enjoyable.