Mourinho, who has earlier also hinted that it is either 'Rooney or bust' for Chelsea, insisted that they are trying to make the deal in the 'correct way' and are still hopeful to finalise the transfer.
"We are doing the things in the correct way.
"We did the bid, Manchester United had their reaction and let's see what happens but we can't do more than what we are doing now, doing things legally, making an official bid directly, no interviews, no comments, no direct relation with the player.
We're doing things in an ethical way and let's see how it finishes," Mourinho said.
On Rooney's importance to the side which has Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Romelu Lukaku as strikers and a flurry of attacking midfielders and wingers in Andre Schurrle, Juan Mata, Oscar, Eden Hazard, Victor Moses, Kevin de Bruyne, Mourinho was still adamant that the England's strikers' services are needed.
"As you know we have our squad, our strikers. We have identified the player as a player we would like to have with us. We did it in an ethical way and will do it until the last day, and we will see.
"What we have is what we have. We have very good young players, who don't need us to buy new players to replace them. What they need is our trust, our work and our support," he continued.
Chelsea were without the injured Juan Mata and David Luiz in Miami, where they lost out to Real Madrid as Cristiano Ronaldo hit a brace. Mourinho was also emphatic in his response to Barcelona's reported interest in the Brazilian Luiz.
"If they need a central defender my advice is that they have to go to the second name they have in the list because they are wasting their time. No chance.
"They are important players. The team with David Luiz and Mata is a better team. But we don't risk players in pre-season. Mata had a little thing, no risk, David has something from the past, an injury he had before the Champions League final, so we stop, we are not here to risk. But the team with them is a better team. He had a good session in Washington with the physio so hopefully, no problem," Mourinho said of the duo.
The Brazilian rejoined the squad for training at the Catholic University of America on Thursday, with Mourinho stressing there is no concern despite the 3-1 loss in Florida.
Mourinho reiterates Chelsea FC's Rooney pursuit; tells Barcelona to 'stay away' from Luiz
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