Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho suggests Wayne Rooney will return to the club one day
Everton's Wayne Rooney
Jose Mourinho has suggested that Wayne Rooney will return to Manchester United one day having seen his former striker warmly received on his return to Old Trafford with Everton.
Rooney was on the losing side as United ran out 4-0 victors over Ronald Koeman’s men, but he received an ovation when substituted in the 82nd minute after a hard-working performance.
Mourinho was pleased with the tributes paid to Rooney by the Old Trafford crowd and believes that United’s all-time record scorer could yet play a part at the club again.
“It’s the nature of English fans, it's the nature of big clubs when the player is big in the club and is an important part of the club history,” he said of the ovation Rooney received.
“Every club in England does that. I can only speak by Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford but in both stadiums when we got former important players the reception is normally phenomenal. No surprise at all.
“He’s at home and I believe that one day he will be back home,” he added.
Victory over Everton saw United go level on points, goal difference, goals scored and goals conceded at the top of the Premier League with Manchester City, after Pep Guardiola’s side thrashed Watford 6-0 on Saturday.
Mourinho and Guardiola enjoyed several tussles at the top of the league table during their respective spells at Real Madrid and Barcelona, but the Portuguese claimed that he took more interest in the results of rivals who failed to win this weekend.
“Today I didn't think one single second about Manchester City,” he said. “I thought about Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool. They didn't win their match.
“It was a chance for us to get two points like they got last week when we drew with Stoke. City won their game and did their job. I was thinking about the others.
“When I saw their results I thought this was an opportunity we could not waste.”
