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Alan Shearer describes the situation Rasmus Hojlund has found himself at Manchester United since arriving last summer as “unfair” but believes Ruben Amorim is certain to look to buy a new centre-forward given the team’s struggles in front of goal.
Amorim was confirmed as the new Red Devils boss last week following the dismissal of Erik ten Hag. He has produced an exceptional four-and-half years at Sporting Lisbon and is widely considered one of the most highly-regarded young coaches in Europe.
It’s clear United executives are willing to go ‘all-in’ on the 39-year-old, with a host of his coaching staff in Lisbon set to join him at Old Trafford, and Shearer contends there is “no doubt” Amorim will want a new number nine as well.
There have already been strong links to Sporting’s Victor Gyokeres with the prolific Swede set to be available this summer for £63 million – £20 million less than his release clause.
It constitutes a similar price to the one United agreed to pay initially for Hojlund when the Danish international joined last summer. A fee of £64 million, with an additional £8 million in add-ons, was enough to convince Serie A side Atalanta to part ways with their number nine.
And while there have been many promising displays by Hojlund since arriving in Manchester, there have been equally concerning performances, with last night’s Europa League 2-0 win over PAOK FC a prime example.
Hojlund was completely anonymous against a team he should be expecting to be dominant against. He only touched the ball 16 times, made four successful passes, zero dribbles and failed to convert the one big chance presented to him.
While the team’s performance was poor in general, outside of a vibrant right-hand side with Noussair Mazraoui and match-winner Amad Diallo, Hojlund must take ownership for his lack of meaningful involvement. It is a type of display too often produced by Dane over the last fifteen months.
Shearer believes Hojlund “wasn’t ready to lead the line on a regular basis” when United agreed the “huge” fee for him. “He should have been in and out, learning and developing, rather than becoming the first choice for such a huge club straight away,” the Premier League’s all-time goal scorer observes.
And this lack of development is obvious in Hojlund’s displays. However, the Dane is only 21 and his upside is considerable, given his potent pairing of pace, physicality, finishing and (albeit inconsistent) technical ability.
Shearer contends there is “no doubt” Amorim will “want to bring a centre-forward in, because that’s one of the positions Manchester United most need to strengthen in.” There is only a finite budget however, and the club are likely to need to invest heavily in the wingback position, as well as central defence and midfield to shape the squad in Amorim’s vision.
Financial Fair Play restrictions make the idea of United spending big on another centre-forward, after paying over £100 million on Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee in the past fifteen months, an unlikely one.
It will be one of the defining tests of Amorim’s opening to life at Old Trafford how he is helps the existing strikers at the club to develop, rather than relying on a new one in the form of his former pupil Gyokeres, as an example.
Shearer believes Hojlund is a “really promising” striker – “I like a lot of what I see” – but that he’s “had to play for more than he should have done.” Amorim will be hoping this crash course in being a United number nine will serve the Dane in good stead to grow into the shirt long-term under his careful watch, just as Gyokeres did in Lisbon.
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