- Hojlund has failed to score in his last 19 Man United appearances – but Ruben Amorim will have a major problem if he looks for an upgrade in attack
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Manchester United paid too much too soon for Rasmus Hojlund. He is a willing worker, but no goalscorer and, for £72million, you want some goals for your investment!
Is he good enough to one day be United’s main centre forward in a team who challenge for big trophies? After 19 games without scoring, the evidence suggests he is not.
I have sympathy for the Dane. He is a young lad thrown into a struggling team facing huge pressure but I have to be honest and say I don’t think he is their answer moving forward. More importantly, I don’t feel manager Ruben Amorim believes in him for the long-term either.
Identifying the issue doesn’t necessarily help fix it, however, and Amorim has a major problem.
Even though he needs an upgrade on Hojlund, any world-class striker who is available this summer will very likely have other options too and choose to go elsewhere.
Rasmus Hojlund cost Man United £72m but he has since struggled to live up to his price tag
After blanking in Thursday’s draw at Real Sociedad, Hojlund has gone 19 games without a goal
He has scored 23 goals in his first 79 United games, including 12 in 52 Premier League games
That is a shock for a club of United’s size and history. They have always been used to buying the best. They would handpick a Wayne Rooney or Robin van Persie, and go and get them.
However, the landscape is very different now. If Newcastle’s Alexander Isak is the best in class, Sunday’s visitors to Old Trafford, Arsenal — who would also like a No 9 — are in a much better place than United to attract the Swedish star to their club.
At one time, United would be 90 per cent likely to sign a top player if they went after him. Now there is a 90 per cent chance Isak would turn them down.
Jonathan David of Lille, who has scored against Real Madrid and Liverpool in this season’s Champions League, is another highly rated forward. But he’s out of contract this summer and will have more attractive suitors than United.
Given a direct choice, Brighton’s Joao Pedro, for example, would prefer Anfield to Old Trafford. How the mighty have fallen.
Given he has to do something up front without having a huge amount to spend, Amorim might end up using his personal history to sign Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon or make a relatively cheap move for Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Both are decent forwards but not the types United would have looked at in the past or even in more recent times — when Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic went to Old Trafford.
Today’s A-listers want regular Champions League football, competitive wages and a club with stability. That’s hardly United, who gave Erik ten Hag a new contract after winning the FA Cup, then fired him, and have generally lacked consistency under Ineos.
Alexander Isak would be an ideal signing for United but he is likely to have many better offers
Amorim could reunite with Viktor Gyokeres but he is not someone United would sign in the past
It leaves Amorim in the awkward situation of probably having to sell to buy. As is often the case, the players he does have with decent market values — Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho — are the ones he’d ideally like to keep.
In the meantime, the Stretford End will be willing Hojlund to break his barren streak against Arsenal this weekend.
