Wayne Rooney knows Jose Mourinho's style

Rooney

 

Wayne Rooney is predicting a "big season" under new Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho has replaced former boss Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford after the Dutchman parted company with the club following two years in charge.

The Portuguese's arrival has been followed by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly, while a world-record move for Juventus' Paul Pogba has been mooted.

Speaking ahead of the new campaign after arriving in China for the side's preseason tour, Rooney said: "I am excited for it. I think it's going to be a big season for us.

"I think the appointment of Jose Mourinho is a fantastic appointment. We are all as a group of players excited by it and I think the signings that we have made have been fantastic.

"Hopefully we can have a good start to the season and be successful at the end of it."

United get their campaign under way at Bournemouth on Aug. 14, by which point Rooney's role within Mourinho's new-look team should have become clearer.

The United boss has said he has no intention of playing the skipper in a deeper midfield role like predecessor Van Gaal or former England manager Roy Hodgson.

The summer acquisitions of Ibrahimovic and Mkhitaryan have increased the competition for places in attack and Rooney knows how many eyes will be on him.

"I think you always feel pressure when you play for Manchester United," the captain said. "It's one of, if not the, biggest football club in the world and it is a pleasure to have played for them for them for so long.

"Always you feel like you've got to prove yourself each season and it's a joy to play for them, so of course there's pressure, there's pressure to be successful."

Speaking during his first media appearance since England's Euro 2016 exit to Iceland, Rooney was asked how the captain was finding it working under former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan boss Mourinho.

"Well, I've only had one day before we come out," he said. "But it was a very good day, a good training session.

"But I think you have to look at the teams he has been at before and the success he has brought to the teams, which we're hoping and we believe that he can bring that success to us."