Rasmus Højlund’s future has taken another twist as it appears AC Milan are favouring another striker signing, rather than the Manchester United centre forward.
Rasmus Højlund appeared to be staying at Manchester United this summer, having been involved in all three of United’s Premier League Summer Series games in the United States.
However, when Rúben Amorim’s squad returned to England to face Fiorentina in David de Gea’s farewell, Højlund was an unused substitute, with Mason Mount playing as a false nine.
The former Atalanta striker wasn’t even on the bench for the Premier League opener against Arsenal, with Benjamin Šeško and Joshua Zirkzee chosen ahead of him, while Matheus Cunha started the game as the centre forward.
AC Milan appeared to be the club with the most interest in Højlund, but a move could be in doubt after recent reports suggested that the Italian Giants favoured alternative options.
“Not Højlund”, says Pedulla on AC Milan targets
Alfredo Pedulla, an Italian journalist specialising in transfers, has said that Hojlund isn’t a priority target for AC Milan, and the club prefer other options, such as the “exciting” Dusan Vlahovic, who was offered to United earlier this summer.
“Let me tell you something,” said Pedulla on the Italian Football Podcast. “Milan are tracking two or three strikers. If it were up to Allegri, they would sign Vlahovic and not Højlund.
“Then maybe Højlund arrives, but for them, Vlahovic is more of a priority in terms of importance. Because Vlahovic is a better player than Højlund. Vlahovic can guarantee you 15-18 goals. Højlund is a question mark, I don’t know.
“Because Højlund, when he was in Italy, when he left Atalanta to go to Manchester United, had scored 7-8 goals. He hasn’t scored a lot of goals at Manchester United.
“Therefore, for Juve who want to bring back Kolo Muani this week, they could find themselves with three attackers: Jonathan David, Dusan Vlahovic and Randal Kolo Muani. But I think that we have to pay attention to Vlahovic until the end of the window.”
If United hadn’t already secured Šeško, they could eye a move for Vlahovic, who has shown he can be a world-class striker in previous years.
Obi could be involved sooner rather than later
Chido Obi has started the season in Travis Binnion’s under-21s side, but could be involved in Amorim’s side sooner rather than later if Højlund does go on to leave the club.
While Amorim does have Zirkzee as another natural striker behind Šeško, he is a very different type of player from the new Slovenian striker.
Therefore, Obi could join the first-team squad as an alternative to Zirkzee – someone with the same profile as Šeško, so the squad can continue to play in the same way if the No. 30 is unavailable for a match.
The 17-year-old made eight appearances last season and will be hungry for more after playing a full season with the senior side.
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