Rasmus Højlund has Man United trait not seen for almost 40 years, claims ex-defender

Rasmus Højlund’s desire for goals has been compared to one of United’s great strikers of the past by ex-Red Paul Parker.

After a highly publicised and scrutinised slow start to life at Old Trafford, Rasmus Højlund is beginning to show why he came to United with a £72 million price tag.

The 21-year-old has burst into life on the Premier League stage, scoring five times in his last five appearances as well as assisting twice. This has undoubtedly grabbed the footballing world’s attention, with Real Madrid eyeing up the Danish forward as a future option.

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Things are beginning to click for United’s No.11 in front of the net, and former defender Paul Parker has noticed a similar mentality between Højlund and one of the club’s most iconic goalscorers, Mark Hughes, who left Old Trafford almost 40 years ago, in 1986.

“All he [Højlund] wants is to score goals. Manchester United hasn’t had such a striker since Mark Hughes, and it’s very necessary for the club right now, but they haven’t utilized him well enough until now,” Parker said to Tipsbladet.

“Like Mark Hughes, Højlund always tries to make the best out of even a bad pass. However, he hasn’t reached the point where he complains to his teammates, as Mark Hughes would do when he received a bad pass. When he did, it was just a matter of pulling himself together, otherwise he would point fingers in the locker room after the game.”

Parker goes on to praise Højlund’s relentless attitude to continue to get in the right areas and likes how he is not discouraged by wasted chances. The 59-year-old wishes this was something more prevalent in the dressing room.

“If only there were more players with his mindset and heart, then it wouldn’t matter if they play well or not. They would eventually be rewarded. The problem is that there aren’t enough of his kind on the team who want to prove themselves.”

The desire for success seems to be slowly filtering into the team, with Højlund being joined by fellow hungry youngsters, Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho. The future of Manchester United seems bright if the team is built around this trio, who are determined to make a name for themselves.