Explained: How £72m Rasmus Hojlund could become a ‘Harry Kane-like’ No.9 for Man Utd despite Red Devils missing out on England captain to Bayern Munich

Former Tottenham star Kane was of obvious appeal to Premier League rivals at Old Trafford across several transfer windows, but no deal was ever done. He ended up heading to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023, forcing United to look elsewhere for attacking reinforcements. Considerable faith has been shown in 20-year-old frontman Hojlund, with £72 million ($92m) required to prise him away from Atalanta, and the youngster remains a work in progress with bags of potential.

Big things are expected of the Denmark international, with fellow countryman Jan Molby telling GOAL – while speaking on behalf of Free Bets – of how good Hojlund can become: “Rasmus was signed and everybody felt that he would need time. We have seen that now. He needs more time, but he will be given that because they 100 per cent believe in him. He has got a great attitude and he wants to do it. There have been one or two issues with the lack of service, but he has got a real chance of cementing himself as a No.9 at Manchester United. How far he then goes is all to do with numbers – how many goals can he get himself. Looking at the way he plays, he is very much a penalty box striker. I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t be getting 20 Premier League goals in a season. Time is the important bit. You have to have a little bit of patience with him.”

Hojlund’s price tag means that patience was always going to be in short supply, with immediate end product demanded, and Molby said of promise needing to be turned into something more tangible: “Absolutely. I totally agree with that. As much as you say he’s young, he’s inexperienced and he needs time, of course he is part of what is happening now. There has been a lack of goals, and a lack of goals on his side, so he has to accept that there will be criticism. I’m sure that once he comes out the other side he will be fine. If you’re the No.9 at Manchester United, that in itself is big pressure. If you are not hitting the ground running and getting among the goals, you will get questions. But you can see in the last two home games [against Tottenham and Aston Villa] he has managed to score and you can sense the relief of what it means to him.”

Hojlund broke his Premier League goal duck against Villa and now has seven efforts to his name across all competitions. Quizzed on who the powerful forward could be compared to, Molby believes United may end up with a Kane-esque No.9 after all. He said: “It’s a good question. He’s a strong boy that does all of his work in the penalty area. Maybe he could be a Kane-like version. I still think his main attribute is being a goalscorer, sniffing around, although the goal he scored against Spurs even Kane would have been proud of!”

United have been enjoying a winter break since playing out a thrilling 2-2 draw with Spurs on January 14, but they will be back in action on Sunday when travelling to League Two side Newport County in the FA Cup fourth round. That tie could present Hojlund with another opportunity to get among the goals.