Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho and England's Gareth Southgate share the same idea about Marcus Rashford.

'Sometimes, in the last 20 minutes, I explore other options, and I put Marcus Rashford on,' Mourinho said last week.

Then, when England took on Germany in Dortmund days later, Southgate brought him on as a 70th-minute substitute. Rashford is not simply some sort of super-sub. He is a work in progress.

Marcus Rashford has a shot on goal during Manchester United's win against Middlesbrough

Rashford came on as a substitute during England's 1-0 defeat against Germany on Wednesday

There were worries when Mourinho became United manager that Rashford would be held back.

Mourinho used 13 teenagers across his two spells at Chelsea, adding up to only 41 appearances in the Premier League (and 17 of those belonged to John Mikel Obi).

This season alone, Rashford has appeared in the Premier League 22 times – 11 as a substitute, 11 as a starter. In all competitions, he has 38 appearances – the equivalent of an entire season.

Rashford is only 19 but those at Old Trafford have high hopes.

He scored on his debuts in the Premier League, Europa League and EFL Cup. Not to mention the Manchester derby and for England.

When announced as United boss, Mourinho's record for barely using young talent at his previous clubs was put under the microscope.

Jose Mourinho has given Rashford 38 appearances in all competitions so far this season

At his first press conference he came prepared and claimed: 'I have promoted 49 youth players from academies. If you want, I can give you that list.

'Some of them are big names, they are today Champions League winners or in the Euros, playing for national teams and 49 is a lot.'

The thought of Mourinho trawling through his records books and working out how many players he had brought through was amusing.

Later analysis proved it was worthy of some scrutiny, with a few suspect names on that list of 49. With Rashford, though, he is making the right moves.

Mourinho uses a single striker. In 206 games at Chelsea and Real Madrid, he used 4-2-3-1 in 193. That has been his favourite formation used at United, too.

With Zlatan Ibrahimovic as competition, Rashford's opportunities to play as a centre forward were always going to be limited. He is, though, in his manager's thoughts.

Rashford fails to beat Boro keeper Victor Valdes at the Riverside Stadium last weekend

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been United's main striker since arriving on a free transfer last summer

'The second season is the difficult one,' Mourinho said previously. 'It's the pressure, it's the people that know him, it's the expectation. I think the third season is going to be a good one again.'

There are areas for him to work on, however.

He has not scored in the Premier League since Leicester in September and has only seven goals in 2,071 minutes of action this season, giving him an average of one every 295.86.

Harry Kane averages a goal every 100.92 minutes. Romelu Lukaku every 119.86 and Dele Alli 179.29.

Rashford is less clinical, too, with his shot conversion rate down from 22.22 per cent last season to 12.96 this.

Yet like Mourinho said, the second season can tend to be the toughest.

Mourinho gives Rashford some advice as he prepares to send him on against Bournemouth

Rashford had his chance to score against Chelsea in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge before the international break, having left Gary Cahill for dead. After doing all the hard work, he could not beat Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

There was an ocean of space between him and the nearest man in red whenever going forward and the Manchester starlet did enough to impress England's manager.

'I thought he was excellent in the game against Chelsea,' Southgate said. 'He makes powerful runs behind defenders and you can ask Gary Cahill how much of a problem that is.'

When Mourinho signed Ibrahimovic in the summer, some supporters thought that meant Rashford would get no opportunities.

Ibrahimovic is 35 and will not be in Manchester in two years, when Rashford will still only be 21. Patience is key and Mourinho is showing that, while still keeping his starlet hungry.