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
Special One could have taken a more brutal approach with the aging star but has instead worked wonders on his Goodison return
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.
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.
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.
It is the best for all concerned.
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STAN BOWLES will say goodbye to QPR fans on July 29.
His benefit game against Bournemouth is a farewell, the last time he will ever visit Loftus Road.
Alzheimer’s, this cruel, heartless disease, has made certain of that.
This game is finally on — with Stan’s family, along with the QPR board and various fan groups coming together — to get it played before it is too late.
For that reason he deserves a turnout far greater than the 4,000 tickets so far sold.
So much effort has been put in to make sure this game goes ahead as one last, final tribute to the club’s greatest No 10.
Bowles, 68, was a magnificent player, one of the very best to play for QPR. The old fella deserves a proper send off.
SAM ALLARDYCE’S retirement plans could be put on hold following MLS interest.
Allardyce, who quit as Crystal Palace boss in May after keeping the Eagles in the Premier League, is tempted by a return to the US.
Big Sam had a short spell with Tampa Bay Rowdies as a player in 1983 and always talks fondly of his spell in the States.
HECTOR BELLERIN’S future will be resolved in a meeting with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.
Bellerin has a date set with the Frenchman when he returns from holiday, after playing for Spain in this summer’s Euro Under-21 championships.
The full-back, regarded as one of the best young defenders in the game, still hankers for a move back to first club Barcelona.
TONI DUGGAN has joined Barcelona — the first Brit to play for the Catalan club since Gary Lineker.
The England forward, 25, signed for the Spanish side from Manchester City Women on a two-year contract.
Duggan, scorer of 15 goals in 47 internationals, follows in the footsteps of the legendary Lineker, who spent three years at the Nou Camp in the 1980s.
Yet the Liverpool-born ace joked her strong Scouse accent might prove difficult for her new Barca team-mates.
She said: “I don’t think Scouse and Spanish will mix too well, but it is a challenge I am looking forward to.
“My contract states I have to do three Spanish lessons every week and I’ve already started.
“I have won everything I want in England. The next step is the Champions League. I want that.”