NO BAD BLOOD Jose Mourinho has handled Wayne Rooney exit perfectly as Everton take the striker off Manchester United’s hands for free on £300,000-a-week wages

THERE will be no rancour, no recriminations, when Wayne Rooney walks away from Old Trafford one final time.

Jose Mourinho has made sure of that. This has been a masterclass in management, juggling the needs of Manchester United with those of a fading superstar. He is going out a hero.
Rooney is believed to be heading for a return to boyhood club Everton
There is no bad blood between them, just mutual respect and an understanding that this chapter must come to a close.

It would have been easy to antagonise Rooney, to prod and poke the striker as he tried desperately to recapture the glory days.

Instead, the United manager has shown complete respect for the club’s record goalscorer.

It has been a masterful, mature and classy performance from the Special One.

This is a dignified exit for Rooney, leaving United with a year left on his £300,000-a-week contract because Everton, his true love, will take him back.

In a few days’ time, when Rooney’s move to Goodison Park is confirmed, there will be some gushing words from United’s manager.
Jose Mourinho and Wayne Rooney after Man United won the Europa League in Stockholm
He will reflect on one of United’s greats, an influential dressing-room voice who will be welcome back to Old Trafford any time.

He could have waded in but he has been careful to make Rooney a special case.

Even when he reached rock-bottom last season, blowing hundreds of thousands of pounds in a Manchester casino or boozing until 3am after scoring against Burnley, Mourinho kept his cool.

He has been careful to make sure that this is Rooney’s decision, that he has been allowed to leave United because the sway of finishing his career at Everton was simply too much.
That suits the Special One. There is no future for Rooney at United but Mourinho has always been careful never to go public with his true feelings towards the forward in his final years.




Instead, he has allowed his United career to peter out, to come to a natural conclusion after 13 highly successful years at the club.

It is not the Rooney he wanted to sign when he returned to England as manager of Chelsea four years ago.

Then, he was desperate to sign him, encouraging the striker to make a transfer request to force through the move to Stamford Bridge.

By the time he inherited him as manager of United in 2016, Rooney was trying to make a name for himself as a central midfielder.

Mourinho made it clear that he will be a “No 9, a 10, or a 9½ — but not a 6 or an 8”.

In the end, he was none of those things under Mourinho.
Rooney is a United legend, breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s goalscoring record with that magnificent equaliser at Stoke City on Boxing Day.

He leaves with five Premier League titles, an FA Cup, a Champions League, Fifa World Club Cup and the Europa League.

That will be his last memory in a United shirt, coming off the bench in the final minute in the 2-0 win over Ajax before going on to lift the trophy (right). It was a fitting way to finish.

Mourinho, as ruthless as anybody when somebody needles him, has those moments of genuine warmth in him.

In the 2010 Champions League final he sent on Marco Materazzi instead of Inter Milan super-kid Mario Balotelli near the end as a mark of respect for him.

Mourinho could easily have tainted Rooney’s reputation by showing him up during a challenging Premier League season.

Instead, he has waited for Rooney to make the biggest call of his career by accepting his days in the No 10 shirt are over.

He goes with Mourinho’s blessing, leaving through the front door instead of being booted out of the back.

Source:The Sun