To borrow some Olympics lexicon, there was something of a ‘passing of the baton’ moment at one of Europe’s bigger clubs over the weekend.
And as he inherited the captain’s armband from his departing skipper, Manchester United’s hopes of luring one potential Casemiro replacement to Old Trafford suffered a further blow.
There is a reason why, even as Man United step up their midfield search, the name of Morten Hjulmand has not been regurgitated with anything like the same regularity as, say, Manuel Ugarte, Youssouf Fofana or Martin Zubimendi.
Though Hjulmand has made no secret of his desire to play Premier League football at some point in the future, the tough-tackling Dane is in no rush to bring an end to his time at Sporting Lisbon.
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Manchester United suffer latest Morten Hjulmand blow
“I haven’t thought about it (a transfer),” Hjulmand told Record in May. “There are rumours all the time about different players, coaches and clubs. It’s normal.
“It’s not something a player should waste energy or time on. We need to have our minds focused elsewhere: here, on our day-to-day lives, when we have so many games to play.
“I can say that this time at Sporting has been incredible. I really enjoy coming to train every day, I like living in Portugal and I still have a long-term contract with Sporting. Of course I want to stay at the club!”
“Maybe one day it will be the right time to go to the Premier League. But I’m very happy where I am now and with my life at Sporting.”
If Hjulmand was ‘very happy’ before, the pride he feels at being chosen as Sporting’s new captain certainly won’t have the former Lecce pulling a U-turn.
Hjulmand has already skippered Lecce in Serie A, and will now do the same at a Sporting side who go into 2024/25 as champions of the Portuguese Primeira Liga.
He took the armband from the departing Sebastian Coates on Saturday in front of a packed Estadio Jose Alvalade, Sporting fans turning out in their droves to bid an emotional farewell to the former Liverpool centre-back.
“Good afternoon, Sporting fans. My dream has always been to be a champion with this club and today I am calm because I achieved it,” Coates said while slipping the armband around Hjulmand’s bicep.
“It was a pleasure to work with all of you.”
Bruno Fernandes is a big fan of Sporting Lisbon ace
It appears that Hjulmand – who has a £69 million release clause in his contract and has been labelled a ‘younger version of Casemiro‘ – will not be addressing the club’s supporters to announce his own farewell for at least another 12 months.
Links with Man United, Tottenham Hotspur and co have dried up of late since Hjulmand went public with his plans to stay put in the Portuguese capital.
United captain Bruno Fernandes – formerly of Sporting himself – has spoken in glowing terms about a man who scored his first Denmark goal with a long-range screamer against England at Euro 2024.
And while Hjulmand was delighted to earn the admiration of one of the planet’s finest midfielders, he still appears to have little appetite to join Fernandes at Old Trafford in the near future.
“It’s always great to receive praise from other big profiles.
“I know he’s a former Sporting player and he’s still a big fan of the club, so it’s great to know he’s still watching. It can only make me happy to receive praise from a player like him.”
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