Jose Mourinho has admitted that he has found it "hard" dropping Wayne Rooney to the bench, but says the skipper will never be sold by Manchester United.

The England international has had a difficult spell for club and country of late, failing to make the Red Devils' last three starting lineups and also being overlooked for the Three Lions.

Rooney's recent struggles have led to talk in the British press of a potential move away next summer, but Mourinho insists that the 30-year-old's stature at Old Trafford - playing 500 games for United and scoring nearly 250 goals - is enough to see him finish his playing days at the club should he wish.

Asked if he would consider selling his captain in the future, Mourinho told Sky Sports News: "No, never. I will never make that decision. A player of his stature, a player of his history in the club will never go to point where club or manager want to make that decision for him.

"I put him on the bench for three matches in a row. That is hard for him, hard for me, so that is being ruthless, to put in my mind the interests of the team in front of the player, prestige, status. In this case even legend. To put on bench a player with the numbers he has for club and country is hard.

"But as we were saying before, this is an industry where the people who leads, sometimes in a correct decision, sometimes not correct decisions, but in our mind the decisions we think is the best for the team."

Rooney is reportedly expected to miss Sunday's clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge due to an injury picked up in training earlier this week.