Jose Mourinho: Wayne Rooney will never be a No 6 while I am Manchester United manager

The England captain began to play in that position at the end of last season under Louis van Gaal, before England boss Roy Hodgson followed suit by playing him there during the ill-fated European Championships campaign.

However, Mourinho, speaking at his first press conference as United boss, said of the possibility of playing him in midfield: “I think in football there are many jobs on the field, one that is most difficult to find is the guy that puts the ball in the net.”

“Under me he will not be a No 9 but under men he will never be a No 6, not even a No 8.”

Although that sounds like good news for the club captain, he may still struggle to find a place in the team after the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, plus the emergence of Marcus Rashford and the brilliant form of Anthony Martial last term.

To make matters worse, Mourinho insisted that he wanted “specialists” in his team, before stating that he is still after another signing to add to the three that have already joined.