Jose Mourinho Backs 'Fantastic' Marcus Rashford Over World Cup Playing Time Fears

Jose Mourinho has insisted that Marcus Rashford's lack of playing time will not impact on his prospects for this summer's World Cup, saying that if Gareth Southgate trusts the 20-year-old then he will select him no matter what. 

Rashford has only played 52 Premier League minutes in 2018, coming off the bench to feature in brief cameos - with Alexis Sanchez's January arrival pushing him even further out of Mourinho's first choice starting lineup. 

Speaking ahead of his side's Monday night clash with Crystal Palace, Mourinho said: "I don’t reassure anyone. The main reassurance for him is that he is always selected. There is not one single match when Marcus is not selected to start or to be on the bench.

"Marcus is a fantastic boy, also very grounded. For sure, we love him and we believe in him, and he’s going to have the chances. At his age, what he’s doing is more than enough, and the experience he’s getting at every level is more than enough for us to be happy with what we think is going to be his future. It’s as simple as that.

"But because he had such an impact at the beginning, probably people expect him to play even more than he does, and score even more than he does and perform even more than what he does, but it is not so simple."

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The Portuguese manager continued: "I see you sometimes put in doubt if he is going to be selected for the World Cup or not be selected. You know, if the national coach trusts him, he selects him. It doesn’t matter if he plays or doesn’t play.

"There are many examples of players who don’t play for their clubs at all and they go to the national teams. You have the example of (Sergio) Romero, who is the second goalkeeper at Manchester United and the first goalkeeper for such an amazing football country like Argentina. In your own country, you have examples of players who play even without scoring a goal in the Premier League.

"So it’s up to Gareth Southgate. If he trusts him, he selects him. It doesn’t matter if he plays or if he doesn’t play for Manchester United."