Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has shared details about a conversation he had with Jose Mourinho before the 2017 League Cup final, which made him question the club’s standards.

When Mourinho took over as United’s manager in the summer of 2016, Rooney was entering his third year as captain, leading a squad that was striving to regain its former glory.

However, despite becoming United’s all-time leading scorer during Mourinho’s tenure, Rooney only stayed for one season under the Portuguese manager after being relegated to a backup role, even though he held the captaincy.

However, while United won silverware that season, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows – especially behind the scenes.

Rooney, now 39, described how he approached Mourinho before the League Cup final at Wembley eight years ago to express his concern that United’s players weren’t dressing smartly enough for matches.

During an appearance on The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sport, he remarked: ‘I recall we went to the League Cup final, and players were wearing suits paired with oversized, bright yellow trainers and things like that.’

‘I went to Mourinho and said, “Listen, I’ve spoken to the players and you need to have a word here and to keep the standards. We can’t have that going to Wembley into a cup final”.’

However, Rooney’s point seemed to be lost on Mourinho as he himself didn’t dress to the expectations that Rooney had set for his team-mates.

The former United striker added: ‘He’s like, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll speak to them”. And then as we came down to leave, I’ve seen Jose there and he’s got a zip-up top with no tie on. I was thinking, “What’s the point?”

‘He was more relaxed on it, so, what’s the point? Why am I even bothering with this? I think now it’s just wear what you want and they have phones, caps, whatever, trainers would suit.’

For most of Rooney’s 13-year career at Old Trafford, where he netted a record-breaking 253 goals, he was under the leadership of the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson.

During Fergie’s tenure, he set the standards by wearing the famous club suits, which featured a traditional club crest, and it was mandatory for players to wear them on game days.

However, this was the case when Mourinho was in charge. The Portuguese boss has never enforced strict uniform rules at any of his clubs, and it was something that Rooney recalled noticing when he was manager at Chelsea during the 2000s.

‘When you used to look at Chelsea, if you looked at the players who weren’t in the squad, they were on the bench and they were all in their own clothes, and I thought it looked a bit scruffy.

‘Whereas at United, it was really professional and everyone, even if you’re not in the squad, would be in the club suits. It looked really professional, and it’s gone now.

‘I think now it’s the same with every club, they just wear whatever they want. But I just always think, United looked really professional.’

Before and after Mourinho, when both Louis van Gaal and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were in charge, the mandatory club suits for big games were in full effect, something that Rooney appreciated.

In fact, it took just one month of Solskjaer’s reign, back in January 2019, for him to order his United players to wear their official club suits to all matches. He did so to revive the principles he had previously followed under Ferguson.

These days, though, those principles have disappeared once more. United players regularly turn up to matches in club tracksuits, while current manager Ruben Amorim spots casual clothes on the touchline.

Watch The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sport YouTube & iPlayer, listen on BBC Sounds. Episodes drop every Friday & Monday morning.