Rasmus Højlund | Signed for United

[Strelok]

I doubt he’ll get that many games. I think 10-15 goals is a fairly realistic expectation, 20 is optimistic.

Agree. He's still very young and raw. 10 goals and I'd be happy. We overpaid a bit but that's not his fault.

 

[IHateTheEightyEights]

Good point. And a lot of people talk as if there aren't more goals in this team except whatever a new #9 can bring. But aside from Rashford, who did exceptionally in terms of goalscoring, almost everyone else arguably underperformed with goals last season. Some because they underperformed overall (Sancho), some because their goals didn't keep up with their otherwise good football (Bruno).

What we do seem to be able to reliably expect from Hojlund is tireless intelligent movement off the ball, and good hold-up play (with his feet, at least - perhaps less so aerially.) That's something we literally didn't have on the pitch last season. Martial injured or passive. Weghorst not dynamic enough off the ball and surprisingly poor with hold-up. Add these ingredients in and you can all but guarantee a significantly improved goal return from at least one or two of Antony, Bruno and Sancho. And it will help Rashford to keep up his own stellar numbers too.

Meanwhile Hojlund himself only has to score 9 goals or something like that to equal Weghorst and Martial's contribution combined.

Yeah but lets not used either of those scrubs to gauge Hojlund's success or lack thereof, though now I say it I can definitely see it happening.

Honestly this is going to be a difficult player to discuss on this board. Prepare for years of "but he's young and can improve, why do you expect him to score like Haaland, but his link up" if he starts slowly and you deign to wonder how good he is.

 

[NicolaSacco]

Neither of those comparisons are fair when you consider that both Jackson and Nkuku had release clauses.

Regarding return on investment, only time will tell

I didn’t know that, thanks, and it now makes more sense, especially the Nkunku fee. But it does show that there were players available for less, which I guess is a factor when trying to consider (blindly guess) value-for-money.

 

[Abraxas]

Kane plus Onana makes us a lot stronger than the route we’ve gone in my view. I would most definitely have sacrificed the Mount signing to get Kane.

All hypothetical though isn't it?

The club knew the Harry Kane situation very well from the very start of the window. That's the difference between the information they acted on and us sat here speculating about what we could or should have done.

 

[Chip]

Basically we're paying over the odds for someone who hasn't made the next step, because we're concerned that if he made that next step he would cost even more. That next step is what separates him from the Vlahovics and Nkukus right now. Based on his trajectory from Sturm Graz and Atalanta, he should be on the rise (for the positivity police). He has grown into his body, and our coaches are usually pretty good with strength conditioning, so he shouldn't struggle too badly.

Is that your interpretation of the reason behind the deal - or are somehow in the know?

You don't think that there is any chance that we are buying him - and paying the quoted fee - because ten Hag really likes him, because he's young and talented, and because Atalanta didn't want to sell him for any less?

 

[YouOnlyLiveTwice]

Be hyped, enjoy the race boys. Højlund a Utd fan, we will se develop at the club to become a great CF. Forget about price and all that shite.. enjoy!!

 

[Rhyme Animal]

of course it's one way

you lot are the ones who are annoying everyone

‘You lot’… ‘everyone’

 

[NLunited]

Kane plus Onana makes us a lot stronger than the route we’ve gone in my view. I would most definitely have sacrificed the Mount signing to get Kane.

Kane costs as much as Onana+ Mount+ Hojlund easily. If we had kept DeGea we also could not afford Kane.

 

[Doracle]

All hypothetical though isn't it?

The club knew the Harry Kane situation very well from the very start of the window. That's the difference between the information they acted on and us sat here speculating about what we could or should have done.

Whether it was achievable or not was not the question being asked. I was addressing whether we needed Mount/Hojlund more than Kane on his own.

That said, if he ends up at Bayern for £80m, then I’d say it’s likely we didn’t try hard enough but, yes, I agree there is no way of knowing.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Is that your interpretation of the reason behind the deal - or are somehow in the know?

You don't think that there is any chance that we are buying him - and paying the quoted fee - because ten Hag really likes him, because he's young and talented, and because Atalanta didn't want to sell him for any less?

Guardian reported we didn't want to pay more than £60m.

 

[Tarrou]

‘You lot’… ‘everyone’

apologies that was a tad hyperbolic

it's only about 90% of the forum that gets annoyed

 

[NLunited]

Whether it was achievable or not was not the question being asked. I was addressing whether we needed Mount/Hojlund more than Kane on his own.

That said, if he ends up at Bayern for £80m, then I’d say it’s likely we didn’t try hard enough but, yes, I agree there is no way of knowing.

You know Levy does not want to sell to
us do you? It would take something like £120m. Also that’s the reason Kane is not at Man Cheaty.

Kane’s reported salary demands are £575k.

It’s clear we dropped our interest because there was no way it was going to happen.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Kane costs as much as Onana+ Mount+ Hojlund easily. If we had kept DeGea we also could not afford Kane.

Do you actually realise that you’re claiming Kane would’ve ‘easily cost’ £167m…?

Ffs

 

[DSG]

Let’s assume the following just so you see the analysis of how they price an asset like Harry Kane vs. Hojlund.

Revenue pre CL = 500m
Harry Kane £80m fee + 350k/wk, 4yr contract.
- 20m amortized transfer fee +18m/ yr wages =

So to begin with, I think Kane was absolutely gettable for a big fee.

That would’ve given ETH 2 years of a top, top CF at his peak and thus would buy ETH that future everyone’s going on about.

It would almost certainly also guarantee the club trophies, which is nice.

Then trust the scouts to actually do their job and find some cheap ‘potential for the future’ to act as back up to the PL proven goal scorer. Or possibly bring back MG as back up, which will cost nothing.

Again - in order for a manager to have a future at a big club, success in the present is needed. This is just the reality whether we like it or not.

And IF another striker isn’t brought in this window, or if MG isn’t returned, then those hoping for Højlund to have a nice, breezy, ‘pressure free’ few seasons to ‘develop and find his feet’ are in for a fecking rude awakening, because he will be the first choice 9 for Man Utd and will need to deliver on the pitch now.

I personally think ETH is planning on bringing back MG to rotate with Højlund because if not he’s basically risking his job on this, and with the Højlund fee, I’m not sure I see another striker being bought.

You’re going to get hammered by the Top Red Brigade mate. Can’t be even remotely nervous about the Hojlund signing on this thread.

 

[NLunited]

Do you actually realise that you’re claiming Kane would’ve ‘easily cost’ £167m…?

Ffs

No you need to include salary as well. Ffs….

 

[lex talionis]

At this rate, Kane would have cost us 120m in transfer fee, plus 40m for agent fees, plus 750k/week in salary over 6 years, with a 1 year club option of course.

 

[DSG]

Greetings from Denmark
I'm tempted to say that it is the biggest football news in years here in Denmark, that we are FINALLY having a striker in one of the biggest clubs in Europe! We’ve waited for a guy like this since Preben Elkjær in the 80’s. We thought Bendtner would be the guy. Then we thought Viktor Fischer was. Then Dolberg. None of them really got there. I’m born a pessimist, but I actually think that Højlund could be the guy.

I guess everyone in this thread have seen the videos of him. Not even a blind man can overlook his physical attributes. He is ridiculously fast (someone asked how fast he is: as an 18 year old his pace was the highest measured in the danish league - even though Kamaldeen Sulemana was in the league at the same time), he is strong like an ox and he has a wonderful left foot. There’s no denying this. But the history is full of players with these attributes who didn’t end up super succesful. What really convinces me about Højlund are three things:

1. He is a crazy hard worker. He will work his ass off to be succesful. The steps he’s taken since leaving Copenhagen are remarkable. He has added so much muscle since then and you see it paying off in his game.
2. His mentality. He has major belief in himself. Just a month after his 20th birthday in his first start for Denmark, in his only second international appearance and in front of a full home crowd at Parken, he scored a hattrick. The reporter asked him if he felt nervous and humbled before the game. Højlund just replied: “No, I felt I was ready for this”. This is the most non-danish attitude, but luckily his belief in himself never turns into arrogance or just flat out stupidity as it did for Bendtner.
3. His movement in the box. Go search for "Gense Højlunds fantastiske aften i Parken" on Youtube (I'm a newbie in this site and is therefore not allowed to post links) and then look at his movement in the box at the first clip of this video. He completely loses his defender with the smartest run you’ll see. There are numerous of examples like this from his time in Graz and Atalanta, and my danish heart believes that this kind of movement is extraordinary for a 20 year old striker whose main skill seems to be he physical attributes.

However questions can be asked about his meteoric rise in his career. He left FC Copenhagen for Sturm Graz in January 2022 a month before his 19th birthday. He exploded in Graz and went to Atalanta, where he somehow managed to add another level or two - this happened within like half a year after he left Copenhagen where he didn’t get his breakthrough. It’s a remarkable rise, but it is also a rise that begs the question if he can just add another level like that again. Have in mind that it’s only 18 months since he left FC Copenhagen as the teenage prodigy whose talent seemingly wasn’t big enough to earn him a spot in the team and get a breakthrough season.

Anyway only time will tell how the history of Rasmus Højlund and Manchester United unfolds. My fingers are crossed for succes. But even if he’s not succesfull, he will never be lazy or have a bad attitude. He will work his ass off during training and in matches, both because that’s how he is and because he is a die hard United fan! Take good care of him please :-)

Great perspective. Welcome to the Caf and United. Hope everything works out well for everyone!

 

[Rhyme Animal]

apologies that was a tad hyperbolic

it's only about 90% of the forum that gets annoyed

But, how can there even be a ‘you lot’, to oppose the ‘everyone’?

You do realise that different people will hold different opinions to yourself? You must come to accept this, find peace with it.

 

[AndySmith1990]

Do you actually realise that you’re claiming Kane would’ve ‘easily cost’ £167m…?

Ffs

He would cost more when you add up the entire value of the transfer fee, agent fees, signing on fees, and the wages he reportedly wants.

The club quickly moved on from Kane for a very good reason. Accept it instead of pretending you know better

 

[Abraxas]

Whether it was achievable or not was not the question being asked. I was addressing whether we needed Mount/Hojlund more than Kane on his own.

That said, if he ends up at Bayern for £80m, then I’d say it’s likely we didn’t try hard enough but, yes, I agree there is no way of knowing.

But it's still immaterial. I also don't think it would mean that. Or at least it isn't an obvious conclusion. But it definitely means they were okay with selling to Bayern Munich.

If we're going off gut feelings and hypotheticals my very strong suspicion is that if we put our eggs into the Harry Kane basket, we would be sat here as we speak deliberating over the fact we have made precisely zero outfield signings. Berating the fact we're being held to ransom, that we always get taken for a ride in long, drawn out affairs as Tottenham hold our summer hostage. In fact I have a very strong inclination that the people that find such fault in our negotiations for Hojlund and believe we should have pursued Kane would be struggling to reconcile the lack of progress with Kane with good negotiation as well.

And that situation probably wouldn't be about to change with any immediacy as we head into the last weeks of the window. Why do I think that? Bayern Munich are having trouble moving that one forward so it's not so much speculation as looking at a sequence of events that is playing out and the additional complexity Man United would have.

 

[Tarrou]

But, how can there even be a ‘you lot’, to oppose the ‘everyone’?

You do realise that different people will hold different opinions to yourself? You must come to accept this, find peace with it.

I'm referring to the posters who are always negative, it just gets so exhausting to read it all the time

thats what everyone has had enough of, in case it wasn't clear

has absolutely feckall to do with differing opinions

for what its worth I don't think you are one of them, I was just on a windup as per, although you seem to be taking pelters in this thread for some reason

 

[Rhyme Animal]

No you need to include salary as well. Ffs….

Aaaah right, so you’ve included Mount, Onana’s and Højlund’s as of yet undisclosed wages in there have you?

What number did you come up with when you put all of them together?

 

[NLunited]

You’re going to get hammered by the Top Red Brigade mate. Can’t be even remotely nervous about the Hojlund signing on this thread.

Nervous? The negativity is something else on here. Deliberate as well: misquoting the transfer amounts, underestimating transfer values of other strikers, ignoring release clauses, all to make a point how horrible this signing is.

Besides, why be nervous? If you are on the frontlines in Ukraine walking through a mine field you get to be nervous. You don’t get to be nervous about a football player signing ffs.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

I'm referring to the posters who are always negative, it just gets so exhausting to read it all the time

thats what everyone has had enough of, in case it wasn't clear

has absolutely feckall to do with differing opinions

It has everything to do with that, that’s literally all it is.

You’re telling people how they should think, or that they think ‘wrong’, cuz you don’t like it.

You also keep saying ‘everyone’ yet talking about some group of others so your ‘everyone’ is obviously not actually everyone is it.

 

[DSG]

I am, but not the moaners and amateur accountants.

It’s not the total amount, which is high, it’s the immediate return for a pretty raw 20 year old versus other options. 10-12 goals for a £72m fee vs. 30 goals for a £100m fee (Kane, potentially).

 

[AndySmith1990]

You’re going to get hammered by the Top Red Brigade mate. Can’t be even remotely nervous about the Hojlund signing on this thread.

I'm far from a "top red" and have been extremely critical about the state of this club and how poorly it's been managed since Ferguson left. But even I'm getting fed up with the level of negativity that plagues these transfer threads. It's just incessant and some people come across as having literally no joy, positivity or optimism from anything the club does

 

[NLunited]

Aaaah right, so you’ve included Mount, Onana’s and Højlund’s as of yet undisclosed wages in there have you?

What number did you come up with when you put all of them together?

It’s something like 200k for Mount and Onana, 100k for Hojlund. And consider resale values.

 

[zaafi]

You’re going to get hammered by the Top Red Brigade mate. Can’t be even remotely nervous about the Hojlund signing on this thread.

If you get nervous over the thought of a football player your team signed not living up to expectations, you should really stop watching football.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

If you get nervous over the thought of a football player your team signed not living up to expectations, you should really stop watching football.

And if you get emotional over people on a forum having a different opinion on a football player you should probably get professional help.

 

[Tarrou]

It has everything to do with that, that’s literally all it is.

You’re telling people how they should think, or that they think ‘wrong’, cuz you don’t like it.

You also keep saying ‘everyone’ yet talking about some group of others so your ‘everyone’ is obviously not actually everyone is it.

yeah it’s only about 90%

it’s a figure of speech

nah I don’t mind different opinions. It’s just relentless negativity that’s annoying

 

[El Jefe]

Best thing to do I guess is to just ignore his price and focus on his skillset and development.

The way I look at it, him and Garnacho are where Saka and Martinelli were in 2020/21. Being developed from young by EtH in our style of play could see these two step up in a couple of seasons to where the Arsenal lads eventually are.

 

[zaafi]

It’s not the total amount, which is high, it’s the immediate return for a pretty raw 20 year old versus other options. 10-12 goals for a £72m fee vs. 30 goals for a £100m fee (Kane, potentially).

How many times do you need the fact that Kane would not be sold for £100m to us explained to you? It was also £64m for Højlund with add-ons, so it's likely that if we have to pay for the add-ons, it would have been worth the fee.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Best thing to do I guess is to just ignore his price and focus on his skillset and development.

The way I look at it, him and Garnacho are where Saka and Martinelli were in 2020/21. Being developed from young by EtH in our style of play could see these two step up in a couple of seasons to where the Arsenal lads eventually are.

Agree. It’s done, move on to what he can offer the team.

 

[DSG]

Nervous? The negativity is something else on here. Deliberate as well: misquoting the transfer amounts, underestimating transfer values of other strikers, ignoring release clauses, all to make a point how horrible this signing is.

Besides, why be nervous? If you are on the frontlines in Ukraine walking through a mine field you get to be nervous. You don’t get to be nervous about a football player signing ffs.

You’ve dug yourself into a hole here friend. He’s here, we’re all excited he’s joining. Expressing a tiny question mark at the size of the fee for a largely unproven talent versus other available 9s is not treason, it’s merely a comment.

You probably need to take a break. Comparing “nervous” in the sense that I was using it and a life and death situation in Ukraine is offensive to me and probably most in the Caf. Take it down a few notches ffs.

 

[zaafi]

And if you get emotional over people on a forum having a different opinion on a football player you should probably get professional help.

‘STOP BEING MISERABLE!!!1!!’

‘I’m not miserable, I just have a different opinion to you’

‘AAARRGGGHHH NO YOU DON’T!!!11!!’

‘I think I do, also you don’t seem very happy yourself’

‘I AM feckING HAPPY - STOP COMPLAINING’

‘But you’re complaining too’

‘I’M ALLOWED TO COMPLAIN ABOUT YOU. YOURE NOT ALLOWED TO COMPLAIN ABOUT FOOTBALL!!11!’

‘Ok… sorry?’

‘ARRRGGGHH!!1! YOU ENTITLED PRICK! DO AS I WANT YOU TO!! DONT SAY THINGS I DONT LIKE!!’

Don't embarrass yourself, mate. Who's getting emotional? Take a look at your post.

 

[TMDaines]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[DSG]

How many times do you need the fact that Kane would not be sold for £100m to us explained to you? It was also £64m for Højlund with add-ons, so it's likely that if we have to pay for the add-ons, it would have been worth the fee.

Ah. I see. So, the great @zaafi has set the market for Harry Kane. There’s plenty of reports (and the possibility that Levy would lose him for nothing) that he’ll be sold closer to €100m than £120m. Btw, the reported fee for Hojlund is £64m plus £8m add ons, which is closer to €84m in total, no?

 

[DSG]

Don't embarrass yourself, mate. Who's getting emotional? Take a look at your post.

You are…

 

[AndySmith1990]

Ah. I see. So, the great @zaafi has set the market for Harry Kane. There’s plenty of reports (and the possibility that Levy would lose him for nothing) that he’ll be sold closer to €100m than £120m. Btw, the reported fee for Hojlund is £64m plus £8m add ons, which is closer to €84m in total, no?

Wish you'd texted Murtough to let him know we could've bought Kane for a few million more

 

[NLunited]

You’ve dug yourself into a hole here friend. He’s here, we’re all excited he’s joining. Expressing a tiny question mark at the size of the fee for a largely unproven talent versus other available 9s is not treason, it’s merely a comment.

You probably need to take a break. Comparing “nervous” in the sense that I was using it and a life and death situation in Ukraine is offensive to me and probably most in the Caf. Take it down a few notches ffs.

I’m happy dude, and will be even happier when I figure out how to put some posters on ignore. I’m getting an acces denied error.

Glad you are ok with the negativity here, I’m not.