Simon Jordan backs Manchester United star to take inspiration from Premier League rival

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The belated success of Darwin Nunez at Liverpool shows Manchester United should be patient with Rasmus Hojlund as the £63 million summer signing awaits his first goal in the Premier League.

At least, that is how Simon Jordan sees things, Darwin Nunez bouncing back from a difficult debut season under Jurgen Klopp with a fizzing start to his second. The all-action Uruguayan scored a stunning goal against AFC Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup, his seventh of 2023/24 already.

And while similar moments of brilliance have been in short supply for Rasmus Hojlund so far – at least domestically – the former Crystal Palace chairman-turned-pundit believes that Manchester United fans need only look some 35 miles down the M62 for a reminder that patience is, indeed, a virtue.

No Premier League goal yet for Rasmus Hojlund

“It’s taken Darwin Nunez a little bit of time,” Jordan tells talkSPORT (3 November, 10.40am) when discussing Hojlund’s slow start to life in England’s top flight.

The Daily Mail reported in midweek that United could look to bring in a more experienced number nine in order to ease the burden on Hojlund’s shoulders, the 20-year-old under pressure to lead the line at a crisis-ridden club only a year after he was plying his trade in Austria for Sturm Graz.

Jordan, however, believes that Hojlund will be backing himself to repay that £63 million investment, with the youngster likely to see the potential addition of an Ivan Toney or a Mehdi Taremi, to name two potential options, as more of a hinderance than a help.

“The centre-forward that Man United have just bought… you ask the centre-forward ‘do you want more competition for your starting spot?’,” Jordan muses. “He would say ‘no thank you. I would like to be the number nine myself’.”

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Hojlund, it must be said, has scored three times in the Champions League for Erik ten Hag, including one away at Bayern Munich and an Old Trafford brace against Galatasaray.

His ongoing goal drought on the Premier League stage, meanwhile, probably says more about the lack of genuine goalscoring chances served up by United’s array of underperforming wide players, Antony, Marcus Rashford and co out of sorts and out of form.