Manchester United manager José Mourinho said that he is happy with Marcus Rashford’s role within the England setup and hailed his status as United’s second-choice striker behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The 18-year-old has been demoted to the England under-21 side for the upcoming international break despite impressing for the Three Lions at Euro 2016, with England manager Sam Allardyce saying that a lack of first-team action with United the main factor behind the decision to drop Rashford.

However, speaking to MUTV, Mourinho said he was happy with the decision to have Rashford in the under-21 setup for the foreseeable future, as it would help his development by having regular playing time.

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The United boss said:

The situation with England is funny because when you are 18 years old and are in the Under-21 national team, I don’t think it’s a drama.

I think he’s fantastic, I think he’s very good. But to be honest, for his development, I think it’s better to be in the Under-21s and play two international matches than go to Slovakia with the first team and sit watching Harry Kane and [Jamie] Vardy and those experienced players that Sam is going to select. So I think it’s very good for him at the age of 18 to play in the Under-21 national team.

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Mourinho also said that his position behind Ibrahimovic in the Old Trafford pecking order was a good thing and that the Wythenshawe-born striker could learn a lot from such a world-class player:

To be, at this moment, Manchester United’s second striker [in the no.9 position] – not the third or fourth or fifth – behind one of the top players in the world, who he can learn so much from, I think his situation is very good.