despite having already made his senior tournament début, it was expected rashford would be available for selection for the 2017 uefa european under-21 championship, with the hopes of gaining more tournament experience. united manager josé mourinho responded to these reports by stating it would make no sense for his development as he was already playing senior football. in april 2017, mourinho appeared to concede rashford would attend the tournament, saying he had no right to stop him from participating, but later in the month reiterated his opinion that dropping down wouldn't make sense, with rashford having gained so much senior experience throughout the season. in may, rashford made the decision not to go to the tournament, and was instead selected for the senior squad by southgate, the new manager. southgate praised the decisions taken by united coaching staff in helping maximise the potential of rashford by not allowing him exposure at youth level for england, saying his development had been handled well by all parties.