Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel has told The Sun that Wayne Rooney has never asked to leave the club.
While Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho continues to insist he will push for as long as possible to snare Rooney and the player seems keen on a move to Stamford Bridge, Schmeichel believes the speculation is all futile.
The former goalkeeper, who captained United to victory in the 1999 Champions League final, told The Sun he has heard directly from Rooney that the forward did not formally ask to leave.
“I know Sir Alex Ferguson came out and said Wayne asked for a transfer, but I have spoken to Wayne and he said he never did," he said.
“He hasn’t said he wants to go to Chelsea, Arsenal or anywhere else. I hope United play Wayne against Chelsea on Monday. That will put everything to bed.
“David Moyes has said many times that Wayne is not going anywhere — but when he says that, no one listens.
“If you stick him up front you will get 25 or 30 goals. If you play him in midfield you will get someone as close as you can get to replace Paul Scholes.
“I think he wants to play up front and score goals, but he will do anything asked of him.”
The Dane added on talkSPORT: "Wayne Rooney is one of the best players in the world. Manchester United are one of the biggest clubs in the world. Why on earth would we sell one of the best players in the world.
"No money is big enough to give him to Chelsea or to Arsenal. Why would you strengthen your opponents?
"Winning the championship this year is probably the most important thing for a long time for Man United. There's no Alex Ferguson anymore so we have to prove we are still competitive and we can still win championships.
"Why would you sell your best player, or one of your best players? I don’t know what needs to be done for David Moyes to kill the story.
"He has said it many times that no amount of money will make him sell Rooney. Hopefully he will stand by those words because he is such a good player and he is so important to Man United."
Meanwhile, Schmeichel is convinced United have what it takes to retain the Premier League title this season, even though new boss David Moyes still has so much to prove.
"That first game I knew was going to set the tone and we went there and won 4-1 in emphatic style and answered a lot of questions that have been asked of Manchester United for the past three months," he added. "Man United looked really solid. There is a lot of strength in depth and a lot of young players coming through the ranks.
"We are hearing that one or two more players might still be added to the squad, but it is a squad of players that won the championship by 11 points only three months ago, so they have got that experience now and they will be much, much stronger this year."
