Wayne Rooney slams Jose Mourinho for treating Manchester United’s youngsters like they ‘don’t exist’

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has criticised Jose Mourinho for treating the club’s academy as if it ‘didn’t exist’ during his time at Old Trafford.

The Roma boss spent two-and-a-half-years at the Theatre of Dreams following his appointment in 2016 and Rooney was his captain for his debut campaign at the club.

Mourinho’s appointment represented a departure from the club’s traditions but it was considered necessary at the time, when Manchester City had just appointed Pep Guardiola.

The Portuguese coach won the Europa League and League Cup in his debut season but things quickly soured from then on, with Mourinho departing less than 18 months later after falling out with the board.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had to heal a fractured dressing room and was appointed because he vowed to return the club to its traditions.

And Rooney says Mourinho was guilty of only focusing on the first-team, which made everyone else at the club feel like they didn’t exist.

‘The distance between the academy and the first team and the manager, especially under Mourinho, was huge,’ Rooney said on Monday Night Football. ‘It was almost as if they didn’t exist, if you like. ‘Having the relationship they had with Sir Alex [Ferguson] for 26 years and then not being allowed anywhere near the first team… It’s almost like there was a divorce between the first team and the academy.’

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Rooney is carving out a managerial career of his own at Derby County.

The Rams are in with a fighting chance of surviving relegation in the Championship, despite battling