Rasmus Hojlund finally delivering as Man Utd's main forward
Rasmus Hojlund has finally arrived.
The £64m summer signing had to wait until December to net his first Premier League goal for Manchester United. He was behind the likes of Hannibal Mejbri, Christian Eriksen and Victor Lindelof in the goalscoring charts.
Now though, he’s flying and only Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay have more Premier League goals for United this season. Hojlund has seven goal involvements in his last six outings for the Red Devils across all competitions and his goalscoring form has been pivotal in their rise up the table.
Following the 3-0 win over West Ham United on Sunday, Erik ten Hag’s side have climbed to sixth position in the Premier League and are just six points behind Spurs if fifth and eight points off fourth-placed Aston Villa.
United are still the lowest scorers in the top 10 but they are finding the back of the net with greater regularity. They scored three against both Aston Villa and West Ham United. The Red Devils found the back of the net four times in their late win over Wolves and they scored twice in the draw with Spurs. Of those 12 goals, Hojlund was directly involved in six. The 21-year-old scored the winner against Villa. He scored and assisted in the game versus Spurs and repeated that feat against Wolves. The United No.11 then opened the scoring against West Ham.
The young forward went on a similar run last season for Atalanta.
Before the turn of the year, he had just one Serie A goal and one assist to his name. From January onwards, the versatile attacker added eight goals and three assists to his haul. Hojlund is seemingly one of those players who takes a little time to adapt to his new surroundings, but once he has his feet under the table, he’s an asset to his team.
Hojlund never doubted himself though. Speaking to Sky Sports after the win over West Ham, he said: "I have always believed in myself, it has just been about getting the rhythm going. You get one goal, then two and get a bit of momentum and start linking up with the players.
"About a month ago, Garna and I did an interview on the pitch and he said there was a lot of talk about us not scoring enough goals but we’re still young."
His goal was one that only a striker full of confidence scores. He waltzed past Nayef Aguerd, a £60m-rated centre-back, with ease before firing the ball into the bottom corner like he was participating in a finishing drill.
Ten Hag has also been pretty vocal in support of his striker. The Dutchman is quoted as saying: "Aye, he is a great character, always keeps going. He always wants to improve. And you see now the team is better and the team is more stable, now we serve the front line better and that he starts scoring. You see there's something growing with Rashy [Marcus Rashford], with [Alejandro] Garnacho, with Bruno [Fernandes] in the back, also other players from the second and the third line. So he's coming more in the position to score.
"But I can tell you, it's not easy for a striker when you have high expectations from yourself. Also, I think the outside world has high expectations to fulfil that, and when it's not working, of course, that is the character every striker needs. He gets angry, he gets mad when he's not scoring but also that's why we selected him.
"He has the resilience and the calmness, and to perform under that stress. He doesn't have any moment that he wants to give up. No, he keeps going every time. He keeps going to put him in the right position. I'm happy that he is now starting to score. Also, that counts for many players for these young players. I think there's a lot of space for improvement but he is still now on very good levels."
It is a little premature to say Hojlund is going to prove to be a bargain buy for United, especially when his transfer fee could rise to £72m, but we are starting to see what he’s capable of when he’s leading the line of a much more settled team. If this current form becomes the norm for the remainder of the season, there’s no reason he couldn’t fire the Red Devils to a European finish. A remarkable achievement for a player in his debut season with the club. He’s already proving himself to be integral to their system.
