Manchester United must resolve Wayne Rooney future to avoid disrupting club's pre-season, says Gary Neville

The 30-year-old's future at the club remains unclear as he continues to be linked with a move away from Old Trafford

Rooney made just 15 league starts during Mourinho’s first campaign in charge (Getty Images)

Manchester United must resolve Wayne Rooney’s future to stop speculation surrounding the 31-year-old from disrupting the club’s pre-season schedule, Gary Neville has said.

The club are yet to confirm whether Rooney will see out the final year of his contract, despite the player’s admission in the wake of United’s Europa League victory win that he had “more or less” decided his future.

And with United’s players set to return for pre-season training on 8 July, Neville has warned his former club against dragging out proceedings over Rooney’s next move.

"I am surprised it has not been dealt with," he said.

"You don't want that speculation to hang over a pre-season because every single press conference and media session will be clogged up with the issue of whether he is staying or going."

Neville added: "You don't want to create voids for speculation around such big players."

Despite confirming his place in Manchester United history after becoming the all-time top goalscorer at Stoke in January, Rooney struggled for regular first-team game time under Jose Mourinho last season.

The England international made just 15 league starts during Mourinho’s first campaign in charge, scoring a total of five goals for the club, and was notably used as an 89th-minute substitute in the Europa League final with United already 2-0 up.

Although Rooney has drifted to the periphery under the Portuguese, Mourinho has insisted he would be “very happy” if the player stayed on another season at Old Trafford.

"He is a very important player for us,” he said in Stockholm last month. “If he stays next season I'd be very happy."

Mourinho said Rooney remains "a very important player for us" (Getty)

China had been touted as a potential destination for Rooney but such a move now seems unlikely following the implementation of tighter restrictions on overseas players.

LA Galaxy are not interested in signing the Englishman, and Rooney repeated his stance last month that he would not play for another Premier League club apart from United and former club Everton.