Rasmus Højlund has been given a Manchester United lifeline ahead of the club’s most important game of the season against Lyon in the Europa League.
Manchester United have struggled this season and a major reason behind that has been the lack of fire-power up front for the club.
Rasmus Højlund was expected to take strides forward after a promising debut campaign at Old Trafford but things couldn’t have gone much more wrong.
The Danish striker still only has three goals in the Premier League this season and has scored just once in his last 25 appearances for the club.
Ruben Amorim has been sticking by him, partly due to a lack of alternatives, but it seemed like Joshua Zirkzee would be the starting striker heading into the important Europa League tie against Lyon this week.
Unfortunately, the Dutchman picked up an injury against Newcastle that has ruled him out of action for the rest of the season. Højlund’s little amount of competition has disappeared for the final month of the campaign.
Højlund given United lifeline after Zirkzee injury
Zirkzee’s injury is a huge blow for Amorim and the club but Højlund might be the only player who could see it as a positive.
The dire form of the 22-year-old has led to serious question marks over his future with the club and United could start looking at a potential summer exit.
For Højlund, the only possible way to turn things around is to score goals. Important goals. He was initially unlikely to start on Thursday but now is almost guaranteed a spot in the team despite his difficulties.
In an ideal world, United have four remaining European games this season – one being a cup final but all being treated like one – and the Dane will probably start all of them if United manage to progress to Bilbao.
Making a difference in these fixtures could give Højlund a lifeline at Old Trafford and make Amorim think twice about selling him in the summer.
Højlund shares true thoughts on Amorim
Højlund has had difficulties under the Portuguese head coach but he rates the 40-year-old very highly.
When speaking to Sky Sports earlier this week, the former Atalanta striker waxed lyrical about Amorim and how his “main quality” is the desire to get United back to fighting at the top of the table.
“He is very passionate and he wants to improve everybody,” said Højlund when asked about his new head coach.
“You can see that he has really got the heart for wanting to improve and be better. He wants to bring this club back where it belongs, and I think that is his main quality.
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“He just wants to be better and just be the best version of him being a manager.”
Amorim has tried to protect Højlund from criticism this season but he will soon need the striker to provide the goods in front of goal – preferably in the Europa League campaign.
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