Real Madrid manager José Mourinho is discouraging of any suggestion that Wayne Rooney would be heading to Bernabéu. He told Sky Sports: “My thoughts are he will stay. He probably wants to leave for some reasons, but I believe he belongs to Manchester United, he belongs to Manchester United fans, he belongs to Old Trafford.”
In the past Mourinho has declared himself an admirer of Wayne Rooney. He has claimed he would like to coach him. There could be several reasons to his caution around Rooney now. These are our suggestions:
- Mourinho is unsure about Rooney’s more than six months out of form and does not want to gamble on such a high profile player, with equally high wages.
- Mourinho is not declaring any interest at this stage, because he knows Rooney has not been in talks with Real Madrid for the past couple of months. This would mean that Rooney is probably heading elsewhere.
- Or Mourinho has in fact been in contact with Rooney ever since he took over at Real Madrid. He is just playing innocent in the face of Sir Alex Ferguson and all Manchester United fans.

If Real Madrid is not a contender for Wayne Rooney’s signature, then which clubs have the money and a keen interest in signing this high profile, out of form striker? Could we be ready for a major betrayal with Wayne Rooney choosing Manchester City instead of Manchester United. City fans might be dreaming of a reunion with Tevez and Rooney, while in fact Tevez has been unhappy at City and could instead be replaced by Rooney.
Should Wayne Rooney choose to leave England but not for Real Madrid, another possibility would be Italy where the only likely candidate is Inter Milan. Their neighbours AC Milan would probably need Rooney more but they won’t have the money. Are there any clubs in Germany who could come to the party?
At present it is still Manchester City and Real Madrid people keep their eyes on, regardless of Mourinho’s statements to the media.