‘Leave Cristiano Ronaldo up front!’ – Rasmus Hojlund picks his ‘idol’ in dream five-a-side team made up of Man Utd legends

The Danish frontman is hoping to become a fan favourite in his own right at Old Trafford, with form being found on the back of a £72 million ($m) transfer from Atalanta in the summer of 2023. Hojlund has netted in his last four Premier League games – with the 21-year-old eclipsing the likes of Ronaldo to become the youngest player to achieve that feat for the Red Devils.

Hojlund has always looked up to great goalscorers of the past and has told The United Stand of his biggest boyhood hero: “It has to be Cristiano. [Wayne] Rooney and [Carlos] Tevez as well, but Cristiano was probably the guy. I remember supporting him and following him at United, then watching him at the period when he was at Real Madrid and Juventus, then back again as well. He’s always been my idol.”

Unsurprisingly, Hojlund has found a role for Ronaldo in his dream five-a-side team, with there some serious quality in that selection. The Denmark international said when revealing his choices: “I need to put Peter [Schmeichel] in goal. Peter because… Peter is Peter, he’s Danish. Peter won everything here and is a legend but he’s also a legend in Denmark because he won the Euros, so he has to be there. I need to put Rio [Ferdinand] in there because he’s very memorable to me. I would love to put [Nemanja] Vidic there but I can only have one defender. I want to put Ryan Giggs in there, Paul Scholes and Cristiano. You still get a balanced midfield and then you can just leave him [Ronaldo] up front.”

Having found his feet in English football, with his goal tally for the season taken to 10 in all competitions, Hojlund will be hoping to help United finish the 2023-24 campaign with a flourish. They are eight points adrift of the Premier League’s top four as things stand, but are into the fifth round of the FA Cup and have more major silverware to try and chase down there.