Marcus Rashford was the find of the Premier League last season and he was rewarded for his good performances when he secured a place in Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2016 England squad. However, since the arrival of Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, the talented youngster has not played even a single minute since the start of the Premier League.
Sam Allardyce, the new England manager, is clearly unhappy with the situation and he was keen to keep Rashford’s development on the right track with a spell at the U-21 level. On the selection of Rashford, the England U-21 manager, Gareth Southgate said:
"Sam [Allardyce] is quite keen that people are playing regularly, we think that it’s now a good opportunity in his international development for him to be with the U21s.
"Marcus is a young player and still developing so this is a big part of his international education really.
"We’ve got a good week’s work ahead with a very strong squad and we’re playing Norway, who are doing similar with their players as they’ve just named Martin Odegaard in their squad.
"We’ve had it in the past with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane, John Stones and Calum Chambers joining us after being with the seniors, so it’s something we’re familiar with.
"Marcus has a good mentality, so I know he’ll respond in the right way and we’re looking forward to working with him.”
Norway have also demoted Real Madrid starlet Martin Odegaard to the Under-21 team, and it will be interesting to see how both Rashford and Odegaard fare in this U-21 Euro qualifier. Other stars to look out for in the game are Arsenal duo Calum Chambers and Rob Holding and Leicester City duo of Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray.
Full squad:
Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Manchester City), Jordan Pickford (Sunderland), Joe Wildsmith (Sheffield Wednesday)
Defenders: Calum Chambers (Arsenal), Ben Chilwell (Leicester City), Brendan Galloway (West Bromwich Albion, loan from Everton), Kortney Hause (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Rob Holding (Arsenal), Mason Holgate (Everton), Dominic Iorfa (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Matt Targett (Southampton)
Midfielders: Lewis Baker (Vitesse Arnhem, loan from Chelsea), Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea), Isaac Hayden (Newcastle United), Will Hughes (Derby County), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), John Swift (Reading), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Forwards: Demarai Gray (Leicester City), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Nathan Redmond (Southampton), Dominic Solanke (Chelsea), Duncan Watmore (Sunderland)
