Erik ten Hag has made a worrying claim. (Image: Getty)
Rasmus Hojlund is an exciting player for the future and has shown glimmers of the potential return Manchester United will get from their £72million investment. But United’s strategy to secure the striker was wrong, and the club’s worrying struggle for goals this season comes as no surprise.
Manchester City boast Erling Haaland. Liverpool have Mohamed Salah. Bukayo Saka is at Arsenal and Kai Havertz is scoring now, too. Cole Palmer is the poster boy among Chelsea’s vast talent.
Meanwhile, United have prioritised youth, and it is currently resulting in short-term pain for possible long-term gain.
The Red Devils’ two strikers – Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee – cost a combined £109m but have never scored 20 goals in a single season between them.
Last year, club bosses deemed £100m for one of the world’s best goalscorers, Harry Kane, to be too high a demand from Tottenham.
They instead spunked the £72m on Hojlund, who was immediately expected to carry the goalscoring burden due to Anthony Martial’s final prolonged absence at Old Trafford.
He netted 16 times in his maiden campaign, a respectable total for a then-21-year-old experiencing Premier League and Champions League football for the first time.
But he needed an experienced striker to help develop his game, as Javier Hernandez did in Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov back in 2010. That transfer paid off.
Rasmus Hojlund is a long-term signing. (Image: Getty)
Instead, United opted for youth again this summer. Zirkzee’s £37m arrival from Bologna fuelled excitement, but he isn’t a natural goalscorer – his one goal in 10 appearances confirms that.
So Ten Hag now has two young strikers who realistically won’t grow to their best until after he is long gone from Old Trafford.
That is a problem amid United’s worst goalscoring start to a league season since 1972, contributing to just two wins in seven games.
Only Southampton have scored less than United’s five goals. Three of those came against the Saints, and they have failed to find the net in four of their last five league outings.
United never looked like scoring in Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Aston Villa as Hojlund made his first league start of the season. After full-time, Ten Hag claimed he was his best goalscorer.
“It will come, there are more reasons, sometimes it’s the form,” Ten Hag insisted at Villa Park.
“Rasmus Hojlund is just in the season, he is not up to 100 per cent match fitness and he is our goalscorer, I would say our best goalscorer.
“But also others know they can score goals. Like Rashford, he scored in Porto, had a good assist in Porto; today he created good chances.
“Garnacho all season is a threat with scoring and assists. Bruno [Fernandes] has the ability to score goals. We will get there. We trust the players, and one day it will click.”
If United’s best goalscorer has scored 17 times in 48 appearances for the club, their woes in that department could very well continue for now.
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1958196/Man-Utd-news-Erik-ten-Hag-Rasmus-Hojlund