Wayne Rooney is highly unlikely to leave Manchester United next week and has been left surprised by José Mourinho’s claim he could do so, though the forward is set to depart in the summer.

Rooney, who missed Wednesday night’s 1-0 victory at St-Étienne which confirmed United’s progress to the last 16 of the Europa League, is determined to try to see the season out, so unless United actively tell him he can depart or there is a lucrative last-minute offer from China’s Super League before its window closes on Tuesday, he will remain at Old Trafford. Nonetheless, his agent, Paul Stretford, has flown to China to see if he can negotiate a deal for his client to leave United, most likely at the end of the season.

Chinese whispers: Mourinho stops short of ruling out Wayne Rooney move Read more

Mourinho’s comment that he could not guarantee Rooney would still be a United player beyond 28 February caught the player unawares as he has no wish to move on. On Tuesday, when asked about Rooney’s future, the manager said: “You have to ask him. Of course I can’t guarantee he will still be here next season. I cannot guarantee that I’m here next week, how can I guarantee that a player is here next season? What I can guarantee is that, if one day Wayne leaves the club, it is not because I want him to leave the club.

“I would never push a legend of this club to another destiny. You have to ask him if he sees himself staying in the club for the rest of his career or sees himself moving. I was very open with you in the answer. I don’t want him to leave.”

While this bemused the 31-year-old club captain, he is unhappy at his lack of regular starts and unless this situation vastly improves before the season ends he will depart in the summer. There have been exploratory discussions between Stretford and Tianjin Quanjian, who are coached by Fabio Cannavaro, but they have not resulted in an offer. “We did make an approach for Rooney,” Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning captain told Tianjin TV. “It was just a chat because he simply doesn’t suit our style of play. No further discussion was necessary.”

It is thought that SIPG and Shenhua, the two Shanghai clubs, do not have any interest in Rooney, moreover, and so his options in China are limited.

A hamstring injury to goalscorer, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, has increased Rooney’s chances of featuring in the EFL Cup final against Southampton on Sunday, although Mourinho is likely to look elsewhere for a replacement.

The Ivory Coast midfielder Franck Kessié has admitted he would be interested in moving to Old Trafford. The 20-year-old, who plays for Atalanta in Serie A, has been scouted extensively by Chelsea but is also believed to be of interest to Mourinho. “I like the Premier League and in particular Manchester United, the club I dream of playing for,” he said on Wednesday.

“Chelsea? That is also a big club, nobody would turn them down, but I dream of United.”