Jose Mourinho had been implored by the great and the good of Manchester United not to ignore the teen. The two knights, Sir Bobby and Sir Alex, had urged the new manager to back the lad. He was a genuine talent. A star in the making. And not a flash-in-the-pan. But the manager was unsure…

Need proof? Well, we’ve had confirmation from both sides of the Breel Embolo deal that United wanted the Swiss striker. FC Basel admitted United were in the mix during the Euros and Schalke’s football chief Christian Heidel has since publicly celebrated beating the English giants to his signing. At Tribalfootball.com we were being told Embolo to United was a done deal. And you can be sure he wouldn’t have arrived to take the place of Anthony Martial and his €80 million investment…

There would be no red carpet from Mourinho. No kid gloves. No show of patience. If Rashford was to find a way into Mourinho’s team, it would be on merit. And this is exactly what he achieved on Saturday at the KCOM.

That 20 minutes at Hull. The slalom runs. The matchwinning goal. It’s all come from an opportunity not granted by Mourinho, but driven and created by Rashford, himself.

Last season was different. Injuries opened up the path for Rashford to rush through. That he took his chance is great credit to him. But this time around, he’s there on merit. The bench is full. There’s established internationals – title winners – in the stands. That 20 minutes on Saturday can’t be underestimated. He had to produce. Right there. Right then. Squander it and it’d be Memphis or Ashley Young in the squad for the derby against Manchester City. His fans can talk about potential. Those inside the club can tell the manager what a player he could be. But Mourinho is about the here and now. And Rashford delivered.

This wasn’t about scoring goals for an injury-ravaged Louis van Gaal XI. Or offering a bright couple of minutes in a dismal, dark England performance. This was Rashford fighting his way through a full senior squad. Winning over a new manager. And hitting a last minute winner to keep the club at the top of the table. This was a real point of arrival for the 18 year-old.

For a Mourinho player, it isn’t just about talent. It’s also about attitude. The United boss handed Mario Balotelli an Inter Milan debut at a similar age to Rashford. And we all know how that ended. You can’t see Zlatan throwing Rashford up against a wall as Marco Materazzi did with Balotelli all those years ago. If only Mario had heeded the lesson…

“He has the perfect head for an 18-year-old, very stable, not on the moon, so I think he has everything,” Mourinho stated in the aftermath at Hull.

And he could’ve sulked. Rashford would’ve had his supporters in the press, just itching to get the knives out for Mourinho after England’s wonderkid had been dumped to Gareth Southgate’s U21s. But if he’s upset. If he feels the manager is to blame for his omission, then he’s some actor given his beaming smile on Saturday night.

The pundits are angry. As are many fans. But for Mourinho, seeing Rashford dropped to the U21s, where he can be sure to get a game, it couldn’t have worked out better. With Sam Allardyce’s seniors, a starting place was always unlikely. He needs a full game under his belt – which is what he’ll get with the U21s.

Mourinho confessed as much on Humberside. He was “being selfish”, he conceded, but “I prefer him to play matches with the under-21s. It’s very good for him to be on the pitch for 90 minutes”.

Those words were with the watching press. But on the club’s in-house MUTV, Mourinho was more expansive about United’s matchwinner and dropped a big hint which would force every critic of his to reassess their claims.

“Everybody is speaking about him and Ibra [Zlatan Ibrahimovic] – they can play together as they showed today. I think with more work he can play coming from one of the sides but I think the kid is a striker and when we play with him and Ibra together we give different problems to the opposition.”

So, not only are we seeing Mourinho lay to rest claims he can’t work with young talent – and has no interest in doing so. But there’s every chance this season we could see a Mourinho team with two up front. Not the typical lone centre-forward system of his Chelsea teams.

Mourinho, with the help of Ed Woodward, has quickly transformed United into title challengers again. But working with kids? Playing two in attack? United – and Rashford – are just as quickly shattering the last remaining criticisms of the new manager.

Contributed by Chris Beattie of TribalFootball.com