You don’t have to be a genius to figure out Rasmus Hojlund is not good enough to make the grade at Manchester United. And there’s a reason one of the people responsible for sanctioning his signing has long since left United.
When Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS took charge of football operations as part of their stake in the club, United’s woeful recruitment was high on their list of things to sort out. Which meant the departure of football director John Murtough.
At the time, Ratcliffe thanked Murtough “for his loyal service over many years”. What he didn’t thank him for was lumbering the team with a striker who cost £72m – and millions more in wages – but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Down the decades, United have boasted some elite goalscorers. Forwards of the highest class. These include Sir Bobby Charlton, Eric Cantona, Denis Law, Andy Cole, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney.
Predators who guaranteed goals, season in and season out.
(Image: Getty Images)
Don’t miss a thing with football updates!
Want to be on the ball with all of the latest football news? Well then sign up for the brilliant Daily Star Football email newsletter!
From the latest transfer news to breaking stories, get it all in your email inbox.
How do you sign up?
It only takes a matter of seconds.
Simply click on this link, then provide your email address and that’s it, job done. You’ll receive an email with all of the top football stories.
You can also sign up for our sport email, Off the Ball, for all the latest darts, boxing, snooker, F1 stories and more, right here
But when it comes to Hojlund, he can’t be trusted to run onto the pitch having put his boots on the right feet.
What possessed United to spend so much on someone who had scaled the giddy heights of scoring nine goals in 32 league games for the might of Atalanta, is anyone’s guess. It certainly left Ratcliffe & Co scratching their heads.
Along with manager Ruben Amorim when he replaced the sacked Erik ten Hag back in November. Amorim left behind a world class forward in the shape of Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres, to inherit someone who appears incapable of finishing a pint of milk.
(Image: AP)
Since joining United, Hojlund has scored just 13 goals in 54 league appearances. In total, he has scored 24 in 82 games in all competitions.
During a woeful spell this season, Hojlund went 21 games without scoring a single goal, and has just two in his last 23 appearances.
Perhaps his biggest achievement to now has been proving to Amorim just how much the United boss needs to find a proper striker in the summer. The most successful teams in history have all had world class forwards leading the attack.
And United stand no chance of being such a side, with Hojlund in theirs. At times it has been difficult not to feel sorry for the Danish disaster.
Old Trafford is an unforgiving place, where expectations remain high, even if the standards don’t. There is nowhere for failures like Hojlund to hide.
So he will remain in the shop window between now and the end of the campaign, with United hoping he can do something to help sell himself during the next transfer window.
But good luck finding a willing buyer – because Hojlund is now seriously damaged goods.