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Manchester United legend, Gary Neville, has claimed that Rasmus Hojlund will never become a great Premier League striker.
The Dane was signed for the eye-watering fee of £72million in the summer and was tasked with leading the line for Manchester United at only 20 years of age.
The now 21 year old has had a mixed campaign where he scored regularly in the Champions League but failed to find the net domestically until Boxing Day.
The winter saw a purple patch where he scored in six consecutive games but injury in February slowed down his season and he has only scored one goal since returning.
The player’s lack of involvement in play is also incredibly worrying, as he has fed off scraps all season long.
There was even a report yesterday that United’s players do not trust him and therefore do not pass to him during matches.
Nonetheless, the player is still the club’s second top goalscorer with 14 goals in all competitions.
More to the point, five chances created for the striker in eight matches would make it impossible for any striker to score goals never mind a youngster learning his trade.
For context, Manchester City striker Erling Haaland will usually have at least five chances a match never mind over eight.
Speaking on Sky Sports however, Gary Neville does not believe that the Dane will ever turn into an elite centre forward.
“I think this is a kid that needs persevering with. I looked at Ollie Watkins before. He’s not going to become a Haaland or an Aguero, one of the great strikers in Premier League history, I don’t think.”
“But he can become an Ollie Watkins. You can look at someone like that, I think I can get to 20 goals.”
“I wish he was the second striker this season. I wish he was learning, I did the interview with Eric ten Hag last week. He mentioned Harry Kane. If he was learning off Kane now or playing with Kane, I think you’d see a completely different player.”
“Secondly, he’s 21 years of age. He’s a little bit scruffy in his work is his first season in the Premier League, and he reminds me a little bit of Darwin Nunez. He reminds me a little bit of Nicholas Jackson.”
“When you look at them, they’re projects. Manchester United, this moment in time is their only striker. Manchester United is the only striker in the club. Forget Anthony Martial. He’s not been there for years.”
Many fans of the Old Trafford side have major sympathies with Hojlund and understand he has been put in a largely impossible situation.
Yes, he is clearly not ready to lead the line but it is possible not even Harry Kane would be successful in a system that provides so little opportunity as all goal scorers need service to do their job.
Truthfully, it is far too early to tell what type of player or how good he can become. However, what is clear is that he cannot continue like this. A striker needs to be bought in the summer to share the burden and a system must be discovered that can provide regular chances for the striker to get his eye in.
When you consider the great strikers of yesteryear at United such as Denis Law, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney, they were all surrounded by incredibly creative players who could provide numerous chances a game for them to finish.
Until Hojlund is in something closer to this situation, it is impossible to fairly judge the young man.
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