Manchester United legend reveals Rasmus Højlund conversation as goal target set for two stars

Andy Cole has revealed a brief conversation he held with Manchester United striker Rasmus Højlund ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Rasmus Højlund‘s first season as a Manchester United player brought mixed amounts of success but ultimately showed why the club decided to spend £72 million on the 21-year-old in the summer of 2023.

Højlund scored 16 goals during his debut campaign under Erik ten Hag and finished as the club’s top scorer across all competitions, one ahead of Bruno Fernandes.

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However, his goals seemed to come in patches, with the player not scoring in his first 14 Premier League ties before then becoming the youngest ever player to score six league fixtures in a row.

After returning from the 2024 European Championships with Denmark, Højlund joined the squad as part of their pre-season tour of the USA. He scored just 10 minutes into his first game against Arsenal, but due to injury, he had to come off after 20 minutes.

It was then confirmed that Højlund would miss six weeks of action with a hamstring issue, which means he now won’t return to the squad until mid-September. After he signed last season, he also missed pre-season with a stress fracture in his back.

Speaking with Betfred, United legend Andy Cole has explained that the lack of pre-season will hurt Højlund as he will be playing catch-up with his teammates. However, he did reveal that, in a conversation he had with the Dane, Højlund said he was looking forward to 2024/25.

“Everybody needs a full pre-season,” Cole said. “When you miss a pre-season, or you miss a couple of weeks, you’re always going to be playing catch up. When you go into the season playing catch up, then it becomes a little bit difficult because everybody else is a couple of weeks in front of you.

“Against Arsenal in pre-season, Rasmus looked fit and strong coming back from the Euros, and those are his assets anyway because he’s a physical, old-fashioned centre-forward. I spoke to him briefly, and he’s looking forward to the new season. There’s no doubt that he just wants to go out there and score as many goals as possible.”

Further, Cole issued a task to Højlund and his fellow new striker Joshua Zirkzee, explaining that one of them must score at least 25 goals or that both of them should score at least 15 each.

“Manchester United, for a while, haven’t had a striker that has scored 25 goals in a season, so it has to be one of Rasmus or Zirkzee or the pair of them could hopefully get 15 goals each and then you have others chipping in around them. 

“I’m looking forward to watching the pair of them this season. I’ve not seen much of Zirkzee, so it will be interesting to see how he settles into the Premier League. It’s a big move for him, and it’s a big season for Rasmus, so I’m looking forward to watching the pair of them play.”

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