Man Utd are working on a deal to sign Rasmus Hojlund this summer having given up hope of getting Harry Kane from Tottenham.
Manchester United’s interest in Atalanta striker Rasmus Hojlund is nothing new, but his status in the squad might not be what Erik ten Hag had envisioned.
The Dutchman had made Harry Kane his top target this summer amid a determination to add a proven goalscorer to his squad at centre-forward, but Tottenham’s refusal to sell to another Premier League club has kyboshed any hope of that deal coming to fruition. When Ten Hag targeted Hojlund it was more likely to be as a young forward to come in alongside someone like Kane. Now there’s a good chance the 20-year-old will be the only striker joining the club this summer and that brings with it plenty of pressure.
United are working on a deal to sign Rasmus Hojlund this summer (Image: Jure Makovec/AFP via Getty Images.)
Hojlund has admirers within the game and has made a good start to his international career, but as United discuss a £50million fee for the youngster, there is also an acceptance he has room to develop. If the Dane does move to Old Trafford this summer then he will have had four clubs before he turns 21 and four in three years.
It’s been a rapid rise and not too dissimilar to fellow Scandinavian striker Erling Haaland, who had four clubs in four years as he went from Bryne to Molde to RB Salzburg and then Borussia Dortmund. Hojlund’s rise has seen him move from FC Copenhagen to Sturm Graz and then Atalanta last summer for around €17million. It will be a profit of more than 10 per cent in 12 months if the Italian side does sell.
That is also pretty much where the similarities end between Haaland and Hojund. If the former was a guarantee of goals for Manchester City, the latter isn’t yet for United. There were nine in 32 appearances in Serie A last season, nine in 18 in the Austrian Bundesliga and none in 19 in the Danish Superliga.
Five in his first six Denmark appearances bodes well and there is no doubt this is a player with plenty of potential, but asking him to lead the line for United at 20 is a challenge. He is much more of a gamble than Kane, or even Victor Osimhen.
He will likely compete with Anthony Martial next season and at least that gives Ten Hag options, especially given the Frenchman’s dreadful injury record last season. Martial started brightly under the new manager but fell away towards the end of the season and his long-term future remains up in the air.
His contract expires at the end of next season, although United have the option to extend it by a year, a cause of action they are likely to take. Martial turns 28 in December and unless he produces a repeat of 2019/20, when he scored 23 goals, it must surely be time to sell. He has double figures in only four of his eight seasons and just 17 goals in his last 76 appearances for the club.
How United approach recruiting another forward in 2024 would depend largely on how Hojlund fares next season, if he signs, and how Martial does. But if Bayern Munich’s move for Kane fails in this window, then there is a path to making a move for him in a year’s time.
Kane will be turning 31 next summer but, barring the unlikely event he signs a new contract with Tottenham, he will be available on a free transfer. United have made their interest in him clear and City won’t need a new striker next summer. He looks like an unlikely signing for Liverpool while moving to Chelsea wouldn’t go down well at Spurs. Heading to Arsenal is clearly off the table.
So as long as United remain in the Champions League they should still be favourites to sign Kane next summer. It’s not an ideal scenario for Ten Hag, who wanted him now, but signing Hojlund instead could yet open a path to getting both, just a year later than hoped.
Source: мanchestereʋeningnews
