Hojlund officially becomes a rookie of Man Utd. The 20-year-old Danish striker has obvious similarities with Erling Haaland, but can also follow in the footsteps of Romelu Lukaku.
Rasmus Hojlund is a name attracting a lot of attention in the transfer market. Man Utd is willing to spend up to 72 million pounds to recruit the Atalanta striker, the amount that makes the 20-year-old Danish striker the sixth most expensive rookie in Old Trafford’s history.
The attraction is that Hojlund has a lot of similarities with Erling Haaland, a 23-year-old super striker who has stormed across Europe in the past few years and has reached the top level in the world right away. First season with Man City.
52 goals in 53 appearances in all competitions, Champions League top scorer with 12 goals in 11 games, Top scorer and also breaking the Premier League’s record of scoring in a single season are superfluous data. The Norwegian striker’s outstanding goal-scoring talent.
Hojlund has so many points that both experts and fans have to think of Haaland. Not only is the name the same rhyme or origin from Scandinavia, both are similar in appearance to playing style.
Hojlund and Haaland are both 1m94 tall, blond hair, playing in the central position, both are brave, fast and “brutal” strikers in front of the wooden frame.
Hojlund himself admits: “I see the similarities myself. He is fast. I am also fast. He is left-footed. I am also left-footed. He is prolific and I am also prolific.”
Meanwhile, Gian Piero Gasperini, head coach of Atalanta described: “Hojlund is very fast. He runs 100m in less than 11 seconds. He is light as hell. His height is impressive, low center of gravity (balance) and steps. quick set”.
For Andreas Schicker, Atalanta sporting director, Hojlund is the ideal model of a “Number 9”: “One of the features of our transfer plan when it comes to recruiting new players, we look for Look for players with clearly defined positions.
For a striker, we look for players with speed, deep into the opposing team. We’ve been keeping an eye on Rasmus for a long time and we think he’s the perfect choice.”
Christian Ilzer, head coach of Sturm Graz, Hojlund’s former team, also shared about the typical playing style of the young Danish striker. If Schicker talked about how Hojlund penetrated the opponent’s formation, Ilzer mentioned the powerful dashing situations that penetrated the defence.
“We try to get the striker in as quickly as possible and create direct attacks to hurt the opponent. To do that, it takes the speed and decisiveness of the strikers above. And I think that’s one of the strongest points of Rasmus,” Ilzer said.
Man Utd need strikers. An ordinary fan also easily recognizes the “number 9” gap in the “Red Devils of Manchester” lineup. Erik Ten Hag, the strategist who is trying to rebuild Man Utd, understands this issue better.
In a press conference at the end of July, the Dutch military leader confided: “We will do our best to complete this plan. We need a striker as soon as possible. Right now it is always complete. perfect.
The whole team took time to adapt. But things don’t always work out in an ideal way. As head coach, I have to deal with this.”
After pushing Cristiano Ronaldo away to rebuild the dressing room culture in November 2022, Ten Hag used the temporary option of Wout Weghorst, the striker brought in during the January transfer window.
After 31 appearances in the second phase of the 2022/23 season, the 31-year-old Dutch striker scored only 2 goals and did not once “shoot” in the Premier League arena.
Actually, Man Utd has another “number 9”. It is Antony Martial, the name that was forgotten during the past season because of injury. In fact, for eight years at Old Trafford, Martial is so pale.
Therefore, recruiting a striker is an urgent task in the summer transfer window of 2023. However, budget constraints make Man Utd unable to pursue the most sought-after goalscorers today. It’s Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, both of whom are valued at around £100 million.
Therefore, Man Utd turned to the most possible solution instead of the most optimal: Rasmus Hojlund.
Hojlund grew up in the youth team Boldklubben 1893 and Brondby and started his career in Copenhagen, at the age of 17 in 2020. This young talent went through an uneventful opening period in the national championship. ) Denmark. He failed to score a goal in 19 appearances, including 2 starting matches.
In January 2022, Hojlund moved to Austria to join Sturm Graz to find new opportunities to promote his career. The result is 9 goals in 17 appearances over the two-year period of the 2021-2022 season. Thanks to this impressive performance, Hojlund was signed by Atalanta for a transfer fee of £ 15 million, 10 times the amount Sturm Graz spent just six months ago.
In the last 2022/23 season, Hojlund scored 10 goals in 34 matches for the Italian club, including 9 goals in Serie A. This number is somewhat modest compared to Erling Haaland, even at the time of the new Norwegian super striker. started his career, but in fact, only from the second period of the 2022/23 season, Hojlund really exploded.
The proof is that the young Danish talent has scored 8 goals in Serie A in the second leg. In addition, the striker is also notable with 6 goals in just 4 games for the national team (national team) in 2023, including 5 goals in 2 Euro 2024 qualifying matches in March.
Haaland’s Haaland-style strike against Lazio Roma outlines Hojlund’s potential. When Ademola Lookman launched Atalanta’s counterattack with a sloping ball on the left, Hojlund sped from the middle of the field into the box, he passed two central defenders and rushed in to catch Lookman’s cross to finish close.
With the support of attacking players like Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Jadon Sancho, Man Utd promises to have the most youthful and fastest attack in the Premier League with Hojlund.
Another point of Hojlund and Haaland is that the Danish striker prefers to play football. If Man City’s striker always aspires to be a goal every touch, Hojlund handles the ball soft and prefers to dribble. Statistics show that, on average, Hojlund touches the ball 10 times more than Haaland per game.
For example, in a way, Hojlund possesses the qualities of a winger but the physique of a striker. With Hojlund, coach Ten Hag will have an expected face to share the fire with Marcus Rashford, Man Utd’s main striker in the 2022-23 season with 30 goals in 56 games but not comfortable playing in the position “Number 9” “.
Hojlund has a lot of potential, but from the stats and actual performances on the field, it can be seen that this young talent has not fully developed to become a destructive machine like the main version Haaland.
The amount Man Utd is expected to spend to have Hojlund is also only £ 42 million. But, as usual, the “Red Devils of Manchester” are always unreasonably pressured. And the transfer fee the parties reached an agreement for this deal is … 72 million pounds.
Quite an interesting coincidence, Romelu Lukaku is the 5th most expensive rookie in Man Utd history, with a transfer fee of £ 76.2 million, ranked right above Hojlund. Hojlund’s sketches also make people think of the image of the Belgian defender.
In two seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19) with the “Red Devils of Manchester”, Lukaku scored 42 goals in 96 matches. Performance of 0.44 goals/game isn’t that bad. Tragically, Lukaku became a frequent target of satire during the period when Man Utd had a serious crisis from achievement to belief and was the subject of ridicule of the fans.
Why did Lukaku become a typical character for the dark period of “Red Devils”? The answer comes in part from a tantalizing arrangement of fate.
If Man Utd is criticized for its weak play and fluctuating performance, the main striker of this team always disappoints fans with cumbersome handling and always disappears at important moments. , especially nail games.
First of all, it should be determined, Lukaku is not a bad striker. Up to now, at the age of 30, this striker has scored more than 350 goals in his career, both at club level and in the Belgian national team shirt. Most of Lukaku’s goals come in the most fierce arenas on the planet, the Premier League and Serie A.
Lukaku used to be the main striker of Everton for 4 seasons. He has scored 87 goals in 166 games for the Merseyside blue team. The peak was in the 2016-17 season, before switching to the “Red Devils of Manchester”, the Belgian striker scored 25 goals in the Premier League, ranked second in the list of top scorers, just behind Harry Kane.
Unfortunately, Lukaku is not qualified to become a world-class star and lacks the courage to become a hero in decisive moments.
No different than Hojlund describes himself and Haaland, Lukaku has a tall, prolific build, good pace and powerful left-foot finishes. But the inherent weakness of the Belgian striker is bulky. Bulky from gameplay to handling.
The reason is that this player has a large body, so his body is not fast. What Lukaku envisions in his mind before every shot is not always translated into his massive and bulky body into an effective tackle.
Besides, the “weak” mentality makes Lukaku gradually lose confidence after each broken phase. Tragedy is more tragic because Man Utd is a team under too much pressure and always becomes the subject of parody in the fan community.
If strength does not meet expectations, Hojlund can also go in the footsteps of Romelu Lukaku.
