Jose: I Would Sell To A Rival

Jose Mourinho has suggested Manchester United should not be worried about selling Wayne Rooney to Chelsea and insists there have been no discussions regarding the future of Juan Mata.

Chelsea have failed with two bids for Rooney this summer amid reports United have no intention of selling the England international to another Premier League club.

The two rivals meet at Old Trafford on Monday night, and speculation has claimed Chelsea will make a further bid for Rooney after the game.

Mourinho does not want to see the 27-year-old sold abroad and believes Rooney will be the 'final piece in the jigsaw' if he lures the forward to Stamford Bridge.

"To me it is not a difficult decision because you want very much to keep Rooney or you don't want to keep him?" said Mourinho.

"But that old-fashioned mentality of, 'I don't sell players to clubs in the same country' - I think doesn't help.

"Sometimes you push players abroad when you should be keeping them in your league because then you are contributing to making your league the best league.

"You see in Italy it happens every season without any problems. Filippo Inzaghi played for Juventus, Milan. From the big players, only Francesco Totti stayed for life. Andrea Pirlo - Inter, Milan, Juventus."

Mourinho, who is optimistic of completing a deal for Tottenham target Willian, added: "We are going to get a maximum of two players in this transfer window. If we get the second piece (Rooney), it will be the final piece."

Asked why Chelsea will bid for a third time, Mourinho said: "We make the bid and they say no again. What do we lose? One email."

It has been suggested that Mata could be a makeweight in the deal for Rooney and Mourinho on Friday insisted the Spain playmaker was not for sale

"That's hypothetical, because they didn't ask," Mourinho responded when asked about what would happen if United wanted Mata.

"The two answers we got from Man United is 'we don't accept the bid', 'we're not interested in selling the player'.

"That's the only official contact we had with Man United. Till Monday, we have nothing more to add to it."