Contrary to the popular belief that Wayne Rooney might lose his Manchester United captaincy soon after his dismal performances, United manager Jose Mourinho has insisted that the underperforming star will retain his captaincy.

The England international has been dropped from the starting eleven after some dismal performances and came off the bench in last weekend’s win over Leicester City as well as the Europa League clash with Zorya Luhansk.

However, the Portuguese tactician has said that Rooney will be the captain irrespective of the situation he is in. Mourinho backed Rooney for his influence on the players and said the captaincy was never in question.

“Wayne is the captain, no matter what,” Mourinho told several English newspapers. “It doesn’t matter whether he is on or off the pitch.

“He is my captain and the captain of the club and the captain of the players. And that is difficult, to be the captain of everyone. So he has all the respect and all the support.

“He is a Manchester United man, he is a great professional and wants to win and of course he was happy when we scored.

“He is speaking to the players and motivates people. He does exactly in the dressing room the same as he did a couple of weeks ago when he was starting matches.

“He is our man. He will score goals for us and he will work hard for us, I have no doubts about it.”

Well, it seems that Rooney’s future as the captain of the club is sorted for the time being but he will have to fight to win back his place in the starting eleven. In his absence, United ran riot against Leicester City as they thrashed the defending champions by 4-1. After the win, Mourinho indirectly indicated that Marcus Rashford will partner Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the attack when he said that he needs fast player alongside Ibrahimovic. Rooney came off the bench to provide an assist in United’s 1-0 win over Zorya in Europa Cup tie but it is highly unlikely that he will start soon.