Marcus Rashford appears to have been impressed with the progress of Manchester United striker target Rasmus Hojlund with the England international ‘liking’ the Atalanta star’s end-of-season Instagram message.
On Wednesday lunchtime, the Daily Mail confirmed what many Manchester United fans had long-since suspected.
Harry Kane, the report says, was ‘never really a realistic option’ to solve Erik ten Hag’s goalscoring problems. Tottenham Hotspur value the 30-year-old in the region of £100 million. Even if United were to meet that asking price, it is far from guaranteed that Daniel Levy will rubber-stamp a deal which would see his top-scoring talisman join a direct Premier League rival.
Thus turning the gap between the two clubs into a chasm of Grand Canyon proportions.
The Red Devils, instead, are ‘fishing’ for alternative options in the region of £50 to £60 million. Hence the ongoing interest in a man who is likely to fall into that bracket; talks between Manchester United and Atalanta over Rasmus Hojlund already underway (The Athletic).
Rasmus Hojlund could be on his way to Old Trafford
A decade Kane’s junior and a self-professed ‘huge Manchester United fan’; Hojlund scored 19 goals in 28 starts for Atalanta and Denmark in 2022/23, including a hat-trick on his international debut against Scandinavian neighbours Finland.
As breakthrough seasons go, this was a pretty special one.
“2022/23 comes to an end and we reached our goal,” Hojlund writes on Instagram; a post ‘liked’ by a potential future team-mate in Rashford. “Thank you to the fans and everybody around the club for the massive support.”
While not quite as prolific as Victor Osimhen or as complete as Harry Kane, what Hojlund lacks in a proven track record he more than makes up for in potential. Strong, physical and devastatingly quick, Hojlund is the sort of instinctive, penalty-box presence who should thrive alongside the creative talents of Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho and co.
“(United) is a great club,” Hojlund said earlier this week, albeit while rubbishing claims that he had held talks with Ten Hag over a video call.
“I must have done something right if it is written that they would like me! My goal is to reach the highest level. And you could say that Manchester United is there (at the highest level).
“So it would be huge.”
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