Owen Hargreaves has dropped a ruthless assessment on two Manchester United stars if they were playing under former manager Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.
The 44-year-old former Manchester United midfielder lifted a Premier League title and a Champions League trophy during his time at Old Trafford.
Sir Alex Ferguson brought Owen Hargreaves to the Premier League club in 2007 after he signed him from German club Bayern Munich for a fee of around £17m.
However, Hargreaves’ spell at the Red Devils was hindered by injuries and the former Bayern Munich and United star left Old Trafford in 2011.
Hargreaves briefly played for Manchester City before he called it time on his career, with the former England international later taking up punditry duties.
The ex-United player was all too familiar with how competitive and difficult it could be to hold down a place in one of Ferguson’s legendary playing squads of the past.
Hargreaves talks two Man Utd stars
Owen Hargreaves spotlighted the challenges that Manchester United strikers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee both face at Old Trafford under Ruben Amorim.
Joshua Zirkzee has been met with heavy criticism in his debut season in England after his move from Serie A outfit Bologna last summer.
The 23-year-old Dutch forward has struggled to be a consistent goalscoring threat, with Zirkzee scoring only four times in 33 appearances for the Red Devils.
Zirkzee has attracted interest from Serie A outfit Juventus, but the Netherlands international has remained at Old Trafford amid the January transfer window.
Rasmus Hojlund, much like Zirkzee, has struggled with his goalscoring form and the 21-year-old Danish forward looks a shadow of his former self.
The United striker had a mixed first season at Old Trafford under former Red Devils manager Erik ten Hag, but his form has taken a major hit in the current campaign.
Speaking to The Daily Mirror, Hargreaves insisted that Hojlund and Zirkzee would have been “fourth or fifth choice” under Sir Alex Ferguson.
“They’ve tried with Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee but they are both still really young,” he said.
“Back in our time, they would have been fourth or fifth choice even just from an age perspective.
“United in the past have had Dwight York, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and even Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was a fourth option.
“Then in my time at United, we had Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dimitar Berbatov and a young Danny Welbeck coming through.”
Hargreaves on Hojlund and Zirkzee at Man Utd
Hargreaves added that the key position of leading the frontline for Ruben Amorim is still up in the air and Rasmus Hojlund or Joshua Zirkzee could still claim it.
“There’s a lot of pressure on these owners to deliver, it’s very rare you get a young kid on board ready to shoulder that burden so I still think they need to add a proven goalscorer into the mix,” he added.
“The position is still up for grabs, Hojlund is a great athlete but he doesn’t score enough goals and that’s a big issue for United at the moment.
“Zirkzee’s a good player, he had success in Italy last season but they need someone to step up.”
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