Manchester United news: Wayne Rooney isn't going to leave, insists Jose Mourinho

Despite reports to the contrary, the United manager has said he will not entertain the thought of allowing his captain to leave Manchester United

Speaking in his press conference, Mourinho sought to dismiss reports linking Rooney with a return to Goodison Park (Getty)

Jose Mourinho insists that Wayne Rooney will not be allowed to join Everton - or any other club - in the foreseeable future despite his mounting frustrations at Manchester United.

The United captain has not started a game for Mourinho since the home victory against Leicester on September 24 and also lost his starting berth with the national team in that time.

It is a situation which Rooney, who turned 31 this week, has not experienced before in his career and one which, Mourinho concedes, is difficult for the centre-forward.

But the United manager has no doubt that Rooney will come through these trying times and will not entertain the thought of allowing him to leave Old Trafford, despite reports to the contrary.

“I know he can still play at the highest level. I know he’s the type of player I need,” said Mourinho.

“He can play at the top level. I can’t say what’s going to happen when he’s 32/3/4/5 but 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’s not happy in the last matches because he was on the bench but I think he is even unhappier when he’s not on the bench because he’s been injured and has to stay in the stands.

“There are no problems at all. He’s my captain. He is the team captain. He behaves like that.

“In all my career I have had just a couple of players, they didn’t want to play and sometimes they wanted to hide when things got hotter. Apart from that, every player wants to play. I don’t know any player who is happy when he doesn’t play.

“Every player is unhappy when they don’t play. Thanks for that - it’s exactly what I want."

Koeman had earlier talked, in general terms, about a potential interest in Rooney, who left Goodison as a 19-year-old in a £20 million transfer in the summer of 2004.

“Even when we get one time the possibility that Rooney is an option for Everton, I'm very pleased,” said Koeman.

“I am not at United, I don’t see sessions and every game. It is a decision of the manager of Manchester United. But he is 31 he is not finished, he still has two or three years at least at the highest level.

“Wayne Rooney is a top player and, of course, if there is one day when he is available of course we would like to have him but it is too early and I don’t like to speak about players who are under contract at other teams.”

Rooney won't be going anywhere anytime soon, says Mourinho (Getty)

However, Mourinho seemed relaxed at the notion that Rooney’s current situation could see him depart United after a dozen years of largely unrelenting success, although the manager accepted his situation has been difficult.

“I think he’s a human being like everybody else. He has family, like everybody else,” he said.

“He has kids, the oldest one at an age where he can read, he can feel, he gets affected by that. It’s just human nature but I think he’s a big boy, a big character. He copes with the situation.”