Jose Mourinho Warns England Over Marcus Rashford

 

Jose Mourinho says Marcus Rashford playing for England at next summer's European Under-21 Championship makes no sense if he is a regular for the senior side. Reports have suggested the Football Association will demand Rashford is made available for the finals in Poland, irrespective of his development with the seniors.

He made his sole England Under-21s appearance in September, netting a hat-trick, before returning to the senior set-up for the World Cup Qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia earlier this month.

Mourinho said “We are in mid-October, and the championship will be in the summer. I think we have to wait and see what happens until then. Because if the player becomes a regular in the 'A' national team, if you want to call it that, and established, then to say 'it is important for his development, the U21s' makes no sense. It's the same that he's a regular here with us, and then we are going to play him in the Under-23 Championship because we want to beat somebody and he can give us a help in that. Let's see what happens. If he's an Under-21s player in the national team, then he is an Under-21s player and there is no discussion about that. But if he becomes a regular choice for [England interim boss] Gareth Southgate in the first team, then we have to speak because we don't want to go into contradictions.”