Manchester United transfer news: Wayne Rooney 'offered' to Napoli in summer because Jose Mourinho didn't want him

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Wayne Rooney was offered to Napoli during the summer after Jose Mourinho arrived at Manchester United, a former Fifa agent has claimed.

Vincenzo Morabito, a well-known Italian football agent, has claimed that the poor relationship between Rooney and Mourinho resulted in the England captain being offered to Serie A side Napoli, despite the Portuguese manager’s insistence that Rooney would not only stay at Old Trafford but remain his captain.

Mourinho faced a plenty of questions over Rooney’s future at the start of the season, though most revolved around his positioning on the pitch rather than which club he would be playing for.

But Morabito insists that the 31-year-old, who has scored just three goals in 25 appearances this season, was offered to the Italian side, though added that it was a non-starter due to his £260,000-a-week wages.

“I know for a fact that he was offered to Napoli as he can't go to other English clubs, which could lead him to Spain and Italy,” Morabito claimed when speaking to Italian radio station CRC.

“He was, I repeat, offered to Napoli. While the idea is beautiful, when you look at his €10m (£8.3m) a year salary, it isn't realistic.”

Rooney started Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace and was replaced with 10 minutes remaining, but Morabito believes that the end is nigh for his career at Old Trafford and adds that he could even leave on loan in an effort to play the regular football that he is not receiving at United under Mourinho.

“He certainly doesn't have a good relationship with Mourinho, and therefore his future is far from United, even on loan, to give them more room,” Morabito added.

Rooney is not expected to be one of the first-team members that Mourinho will allow to leave the club in the January transfer window, with both Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin both on their way to Everton as talks between the Merseyside club and the two midfielders edged towards a conclusion.