Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is not putting enough trust in Marcus Rashford, according to former Red Devils star Rio Ferdinand.

Rashford has only made one start for United this season, in the opening game, and Ferdinand believes that is indicative of Mourinho not having faith in the 20-year-old.

Per the Mirror's Darren Lewis, he said:

"I look at it from Rashford's point of view. If I am sitting there as Marcus Rashford and someone says to me, 'Do you think your manager believes in you as his main, best striker and that he will build his team around you?' I would say, 'No. Because I am not starting every game.'

"You ask any player. Coming on as a sub—that means nothing."

Ferdinand added the likes of Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe start every match, as did players such as Wayne Rooney or Michael Owen in their youth:

"But those players I mentioned before, they played. They started games. That's a signal from the manager that says: 'You are my player, you are my man. I believe in you. You might have had dicky spells here and there, but you are young and I will see you through this.'

"I think Mourinho maybe has to take responsibility for that. He has gone and bought [Romelu] Lukaku, he has gone and bought [Alexis] Sanchez. What message is that sending to this young player? You aren't my main guy."

Mourinho signed Lukaku in the summer of 2017, while Sanchez was recruited in January this year.

Despite that, Rashford featured in 52 of the Red Devils' 56 games in all competitions last season, albeit he only started half of them.

Rashford has been used a little more sparingly this year, earning 121 minutes of game time across three appearances. He spent the 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on the bench, and he is serving a three-match suspension after being sent off against Burnley.

The Telegraph's Matt Law feels the manager and the club are doing right by the player, but Lewis understands the criticism Mourinho has faced regarding the youngster:

The Special One cited Rashford's playing time as a defence of his development at Old Trafford, which has come under fire from Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, among others.

Carragher believes the issue does not boil down to a lack of minutes on the pitch, but rather the struggles he faces in getting on the pitch in his favoured centre-forward position:

Per MailOnline's Will Griffee, Carrager added on Monday Night Football:

"I like Danny Welbeck as a player, and I hope this doesn't come across disrespectful, but Marcus Rashford does not want to become Danny Welbeck.

"What I mean by that is that he came through at United as a centre-forward, then used on the left, then the right, he was delighted to get minutes and all these things. 

"But he ends up becoming a squad player, never nailing down a centre-forward position, he moves to Arsenal and exactly the same thing has happened. Where does he play? He does the same for England and that's what you don't want."

Welbeck came through the ranks at Old Trafford, but with the likes of Rooney and Robin van Persie to compete with, he rarely got to play as a striker, and he was often restricted to playing out wide.

As Squawka's Jake Entwistle noted, Welbeck and Rashford's Premier League records for United are remarkably close at this stage:

However, the latter's is more impressive because of his age, and it's also worth noting that in all competitions, Rashford has already scored three more United goals than Welbeck in 16 fewer appearances.

Meanwhile, Kane didn't become a regular in Tottenham's first team until he was around 21, so it's hardly the end of the world if Rashford isn't starting every week at this stage.

Playing at centre-forward regularly will be difficult, though, because of Lukaku's presence in the squad.

Unless the Belgian suffers an injury or gets suspended, it's hard to imagine Rashford will be handed a run of games up front.

The Englishman is in a position few players enjoy at a club of United's size and ambition at this age, but if he wants to become a top-class central striker there may come a time when he has to make a decision on his future at the club.