Jose Mourinho hints Wayne Rooney is not certain to replace injured Henrikh Mkhitaryan
By Lyall Thomas
Last Updated: 12/12/16 2:51pm
Jose Mourinho has suggested that Wayne Rooney is not necessarily certain to replace the injured Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Mkhitaryan has been ruled out for around a week after being picking up a knock against Tottenham on Sunday, but Mourinho is confident he can return at Christmas.
However, when asked whether Rooney would step in, Mourinho listed a number of players who can also play in Mkhitaryan's position.
"That's the position where we have lots of players," he said. "Rooney, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young, Memphis Depay. That will not be a problem, to choose a player to play.
"The problem is that Mkhitaryan was playing so well, but now he's not playing. It's a pity because he is going to miss matches in his best period.
"But at least we don't lose a player for so long. Hopefully he can play Christmas. We believe it's possible."
Mkhitaryan had struggled to nail down a first-team place in his first three months at Old Trafford but has recently impressed, scoring his first Premier League goal to seal a 1-0 win over Spurs.
Mourinho said: "It was not a player that was chosen by other people. We bought him because I asked the club to do it, because I liked and analysed the player. It would be more frustrating for me if everything went wrong.
"But he needed a period of adaption at every level and in that period he was a great professional. Maybe another guy would find excuses and blame the manager, or the pitch or the weather, like many players now do.
"But he was quiet, worked hard and waited for the opportunity. And he's playing so good now. Hopefully the matches out won't stop his evolution."