Director admits he ‘didn’t plan’ to sell ‘exceptional’ Manchester United star

Add as preferred source on Google

Sturm Graz’s sporting director admits the Austrian outfit ‘didn’t plan’ to sell Rasmus Hojlund with the striker now leading the line at Premier League giants Manchester United.

He might not have found the net against the club where he started his career on Wednesday night – Manchester United triumphing 1-0 over FC Copenhagen to keep their Champions League ambitions alive – but there were certainly enough glimpses to suggest that Rasmus Hojlund is turning into a transformative addition to Erik ten Hag’s side.

The physicality, the speed, the strength, the anticipation. All were in attendance as Hojlund burst into space and lashed just over the bar early on. Some of his hold up play was particularly impressive too, wonderfully setting up fellow Dane Christian Eriksen later in the half.

In fact, you may argue that the former Atalanta frontman was a goal away from what could be described as the ‘complete centre-forward display’ from a man who has gone from relatively anonymity to Manchester United’s first-choice number nine in the blink of an eye.

Rasmus Hojlund shines for Manchester United

“Rasmus is an exceptional player. A top talent who played really well in Graz,” Sturm director Andreas Schicker tells Tuttomercatoweb of Hojlund, who scored nine goals in 18 Austrian Bundesliga games before moving to Italy.

“We didn’t plan to lose him just after half a season. But, from the way he was playing, I knew he was built for the best football stages, and we couldn’t keep him down.

“I think his best quality as a footballer is his mental strength, which was and is truly impressive, especially considering his young age.”

Sturm Graz reportedly paid around £1.5 million to sign Hojlund from Copenhagen in January 2022. Around 18 months later, he was heading to Old Trafford for an eye-watering £64 million, shortly after Graz had earned themselves a £15 million profit when Atalanta came calling.

‘One of the best teams in the world’

“After the match against Salzburg last August, where Rasmus scored two goals, the contacts with Atalanta became very concrete and everything happened really quickly,” Schicker recalls.

“I thought Atalanta could be a perfect step for him. Now, we know that he improved in a top league like Serie A, and then moved to one of the best teams in the world like Manchester United.”