LONDON, England: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has told Manchester United they will harm the Premier League if they refuse to sell striker Wayne Rooney to a domestic rival.
Rooney has been the subject of two unsuccessful bids from Chelsea in recent weeks and Mourinho has used the issue to stir the pot ahead of his side’s clash with United at Old Trafford today. United manager David Moyes has repeatedly iterated that Rooney is “not for sale”, but Mourinho believes the champions are wrong to be preoccupied about arming a rival for the title.
“That old-fashioned mentality of ‘I don’t sell players to the same country’ doesn’t help the market and doesn’t help the players,” he said, in comments reported by several British newspapers yesterday.
“You see in Italy, it happens every season without any problem. The player wants to move from Milan to Inter, from Inter to Milan, from Roma to Juventus, from Juventus to Inter, and they do this all the time.
“From the big ones I think only (Francesco) Totti stayed all his life (at Roma). (Andrea) Pirlo -- Inter, Milan, Juventus. AFP
