Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has brandished Rasmus Hojlund as a “25-goal-a-year” centre forward at Old Trafford.
Rasmus Hojlund made a move away from Manchester United late in the transfer window, when it became clear that Benjamin Šeško and Joshua Zirkzee would be chosen ahead of the young centre forward under Rúben Amorim.
Since his loan move to Napoli – where he has played alongside Kevin de Bruyne and Scott McTominay – Hojlund appears to have rediscovered his old form that led Erik ten Hag to push for the Dane. Hojlund has already scored two goals in the Serie A, with another two in the Champions League.
His replacement at Old Trafford, Šeško, has also netted two goals in the Premier League, both coming in United’s last two matches against Brentford and Sunderland. The Slovenian centre forward has been subject to heavy criticism since his move, but has shown signs of his potential.
Šeško started the season on the bench, with Matheus Cunha starting instead, but now appears to be Amorim’s first-choice striker and will likely start against Liverpool this weekend. His performances until the end of the season will be crucial in Hojlund’s future at Old Trafford.
Hojlund joined Napoli on a loan with an option to buy – which can become an obligation if certain clauses are met – but made it clear he wanted to stay at United before he was forced out of the club. He could return next summer and fight for his place alongside Šeško.
Schmeichel brandishes Højlund a “25-goal-a-year” striker
Peter Schmeichel, the most used goalkeeper under Sir Alex Ferguson, has today claimed that Hojlund could be a brilliant striker at United if given one particular thing from his teammates.
Speaking to Sacked in the Morning, Schmeichel said: “The signing of Benjamin Šeško was a little bit weird to me because we have Rasmus Hojlund, who has been starved of service for two years.
“You only have to see what he’s doing at Napoli with Kevin de Bruyne and Scott McTominay to play with – he’s scoring goals.
“I’ve consistently said this for two-and-a-half years – Rasmus Højlund will be a 25-goal-a-year striker for Manchester United, but he needs service.”
Schmeichel went on to say: “We let him go on the stats that he scored very little goals last season and bring Sesko in at the time we bring in Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbuemo, who would give Hojlund first-class service.”
Schmeichel says United have a “goalkeeping issue”
On the same podcast, Schmeichel continued to say: “You spend £70 million+ on Sesko, when we don’t have the number six we should have, and there’s the goalkeeping position as well.
“This season alone, we’ve conceded nine goals from goalkeeping errors. When I played, when Edwin van der Sar played, when David de Gea played, the brief was win 10 points a season; you don’t give points away.
“Why did we bring someone in that we didn’t need? Because the head of recruitment comes from Leipzig [Sesko’s former club], and he’s got to make a mark.
“When I played, the manager [Sir Alex Ferguson] was in charge. He said ‘him in and him out’. Now it’s different people with different agendas that decide. How can you create a stable environment to have a football team that can go out and win every game?”
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