Manchester United legend and former coach Ryan Giggs has insisted that current captain and all-time top scorer Wayne Rooney could still have a future at Old Trafford, but insisted that would be only if the striker could accept a lesser role in José Mourinho's side.

It will depend if he can put up with not being first choice

Rooney has had an extraordinary career with the Red Devils since moving there from Everton way back in the summer of 2004, with the 31-year-old going on to break Sir Bobby Chalrton's goalscoring record for both United and England and taking the captain's armband at both a domestic and international level.

However, it did prove to be a frustrating 2016/17 season for the striker as he was mainly on the fringes of Mourinho's plans, with ten of his 25 Premier League appearances coming from the substitutes' bench.

His lack of involvement has led to heavy rumours of a possible exit from the club with the striker stating he had already more or less decided his future, but Giggs, who played for United right up until the age of 40, stated that Rooney still has a future if he can learn to take a step back.

"Wayne is a proven goalscorer," Giggs told Sky Sports News HQ. "Give him a chance Wayne will score."

"It is whether he can put up with not being first choice or whether he can develop his game," the Welshman stated, saying that such a role was something he had to do "around the same age."

"Not being certain to play every game, but playing 25-30 games and contributing," the 43-year-old added. "If Wayne can do that then I don't see why he can't still be at the club."

An offer was never made

Giggs is considered by many to the best to pull on a United shirt having played across 24 seasons and picking up virtually every trophy there is to win, and he even had a dabble in coaching having took over David Moyes on a interim basis back in 2014.

The Welshman then took the assistant manager role under former manager Louis van Gaal, before the Dutchman was replaced by Mourinho last summer.

Giggs also exited the club the same time as the Dutchman, and he revealed that his exit was down to Mourinho not offering him the role of assistant manager for what would have been his third season.

"There was no offer from Jose Mourinho. No offer," he told Manchester Evening News. "It was my choice to go."

"As soon as Louis was going I had made my decision to go," the Welshman admitted. "I had done two years and I wanted to do three years under Louis."

"It didn't happen," Giggs conceded. "That was my plan, to do my three years and see what happened after that."

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.