Jose Mourinho urges Manchester United fans to give 'legend' Wayne Rooney a warm welcome on return to Old Trafford

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Jose Mourinho has urged Manchester United fans to give “real legend” Wayne Rooney a warm welcome when he returns to Old Trafford as an Everton player on Sunday.

The 31-year-old spent more than a decade at United, winning five Premier League titles and the Champions league, as well as breaking the club’s all-time goals record.

And Mourinho expects the United faithful to recognise his achievements - but just hopes they don’t give him too much encouragement during the game.

“Sometimes in this country, the word ‘legend’ comes too easily,” Mourinho said.

“That's not the case here. He is a real legend of this club.

“The number of appearances, the number of goals, the number of trophies. I think clearly he is one of the most important players in the history of Manchester United.

“I think the stadium will show him the respect he deserves, I hope, before and after the match, not during the match.”

Meanwhile, Ronald Koeman has warned Everton's players their former colleague Romelu Lukaku's purple patch will continue if they do not improve defensively at Old Trafford.

Belgium forward Lukaku left Goodison Park for Manchester United this summer in a £75million deal after scoring 20-plus goals in each of his previous three seasons with the Toffees.

The 24-year-old already has six in as many games for his new club and though Koeman knows his defenders will be fully aware of the threat Lukaku carries, he stressed they must tighten up at the back or they will be undone by a familiar face.

"We know him really well," Koeman said of Lukaku. "He's one of the best strikers.

"I mentioned several times last season he's a great finisher. I hope that we know how we have to defend against him.

"There are a lot of individual qualities in the players around him (at United). In the box he's really dangerous, he's fast, he's strong.

"If we defend how we've defended in the last few games then maybe it will be his afternoon."