JOSE MOURINHO MAKES DECISION ON WAYNE ROONEY’S MANCHESTER UNITED FUTURE

Jose Mourinho has told Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney that he must leave Old Trafford if he wants regular first-team football, reports say.

The   31-year-old   has not started a game in the Premier League for   United    since the 3-1 defeat to Watford in mid-September.

According to  The Sun, Mourinho has already told Rooney’s    advisers that he cannot guarantee him a place in the starting lineup at Old Trafford but is not actively looking to sell him.

Mourinho deployed Rooney     in the number 10 role, just behind the striker, at the beginning of the campaign but has preferred to play with either Juan Mata or Marouane Fellaini in his midfield since then.

Rooney has been at the club since 2004, making 376 appearances and scoring 179 goals for United.

But with the experienced and clinical Zlatan Ibrahimovic brought in during the summer, the rise of Marcus Rashford from the club’s academy and a wealth of choice in the midfield, Rooney  faces a battle   to break back into the team.

An injury has also set the former Everton striker back further, seeing him miss the 4-0 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday.

United faces Manchester City in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.