Is having pace and physicality that compelling? Look at Nunez. He looks out of his depth in the PL. What worries me about Hojlund (as it did with Nunez) is his touch. It just doesn't look particularly tight or clean. Would he not get found out in the PL where time and space is severely limited and loose touches are gobbled up by the opposition?
Rasmus Højlund | Signed for United
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His touch and close control don’t seem to be an issue from what I’ve seen of him though.
Give me raw physical attributes in a player every time. Coaches can earn their bread and work on the other parts.
It's not that it stands out as being a particular issue, it's just that it doesn't look anything special and looks fairly average (same as Nunez at Benfica).
Not sure where you're getting that as one of Hojlunds strength from what I see is his touch and hold up play with a man on his back, which is excellent for his age. Darwin is pace and power but doesn't have hold up play, is pure "go go go" and essentially a straight line footballer, whereas I don't get that from hojlund at all. Anyway that's not a big problem for Darwin anyway, he isn't a bad player and has a lot of room to grow and Haaland is the ultimate peak template of what you can do with that sort of footballer. But yeah I just don't see that with Hojlund. I see a more measured and controlled player who has the raw attributes where he can learn to play with more aggressiveness and use his power to get in behind more, while already having good overall play.
to be fair, i've never seen Hojlund play a live match so i can't say he would be found out regarding his touch. However, i'd suggest that the premier league is a hell of a lot more open than the italian defensive league. so if he was going to be found out regarding his touch, it would have shown by now and scouts would be so high on him
Pace and Physicality is very compelling actually and are two great attributes to have as a CF. Now, you need a decent touch, as we've seen what a donkey Lukaku is who has the size and physicality but the touch of a donkey.
most highlights i've seen of him in videos but also match day footage, i don't think his touch is really going to be an issue. i just think it would be silly to pass on him if he's affordable
I don’t think you’ve watched much Italian football recently. It’s generally slower than the premier league so players can get away with a slightly poorer first touch. Lukaku is the prime example of a player who is far more effective in Serie A because of this.
Like you (and I imagine the vast majority of people commenting here) I'm getting this from his highlights reel. It isn't that his touch looks abject, it just looks a bit average and I'd worry about how he would transition to the PL. He's got great physicality and determination, and if ten Hag believes he's his man then I'm more than happy. It's just the one thing that makes me raise my eyebrow (ala Ancelotti) about this. Everything else - his physicality, his doggedness, his ability to find space in the box, his shooting technique etc looks promising.
Not that i’m trying to stick up for Lukaku because I understand what you are saying, but Lukaku has 3 consistent seasons of scoring 20 goals or more for Everton before we signed him, and then he scored 27 for us in his first season. I don’t think it will be the case with Hojlund if we signed him - that he wouldn’t translate well to the PL - but I think sometimes we forget that Lukaku was actually a pretty good goalscorer at one point in the Prem and if Hojlund could put those kind of numbers up for us consistantly, then i’s take a couple of poor touches every now and again (but I think he’ll learn)
If we go for him and buy him we need another striker, expecting him to carry our offensive line would be a massive gamble.
You guys would have turned your noses up at Haaland too then if we were buying from the Austrian or German leagues. They are also much slower than the PL. touch hasn’t done him any harm so far
I'd be inclined to go for Hojlund now and wait for Kane on a free
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Haaland isnt known for his aerial ability
Nor is Hojlund
He is a very good player. But still, he can fail under the pressure of the PL.
Reeks of lazy journalism doesn’t it.
“Dave, is that Højlund guy over 6 foot?”
“Yeah I think so”
“I’ll just put ‘good in the air’ then”
“Dave, is that Højlund guy over 6 foot?”
“Yeah I think so”
“I’ll just put ‘good in the air’ then”
Up for this however it worries me if he is leading the line with Martial as back up next year. I don't think we will sign Kane or Osimhen and it maybe too much pressure- hope I am wrong and we do sign Kane as that could be perfect.
Have to say I knew next to nothing about this kid, so watched the obligatory YT vid, which of course is to be taken with a pinch of salt, but got to say I like the look of him, he is strong, decent pace and a range of finishing, looks to me he has room to improve and would benefit from being around clever players like Bruno and Eriksen.
If he is our one Striker brought in then Mount/ Garnacho left, Rashford + striker centre makes sense
Also I have always liked Scandi players for us
If he is our one Striker brought in then Mount/ Garnacho left, Rashford + striker centre makes sense
Also I have always liked Scandi players for us
"Ramp up interest" is such a meaningless phrase.
40 is a lot better than some of the other quoted fees, I think this is his actual worth in all honesty, maybe add another 5-10 for add-ons to finish this quickly but he's not worth more than that.
Talksport really do chat shit don't they? Arial ability
To be fair it’s probably just the person who wrote the tweet being lazy rather than the actual report itself. But I really hope it’s true it’s a deal we should be able to get done fairly fairly quickly. He’s basically begging us to buy him at this point, I mean he just followed Mark Goldbridge ffs
Haha, woops! Meant to say Kane.
A blind man could have seen Haaland was destined for the top. Hard to imagine this fella has ever shown he is on the same level.
Really?! Jeez, he really does want the move.
Poor decision making, avoid signing.
I’m talking specifically about ‘touch’ seeing as that seems to be a point put forward
Hasn’t got the hype and hasn’t hit the heights Haaland has yet but I don’t think it’s far fetched to say he looks like the real deal, potentially.
Yeh I was the one that brought up his touch. It was never something that seemed would be an issue with Haaland. With Nunez and potentially Hojlund, it was just something that struck me. I haven't seen enough of Hojlund in live games to have a definitive opinion, though.
Would be great if so. Enough people here seem convinced and if the ten Hag/the club are, then I hope we get it done.
Statistically he’s 2% better than Haaland
Is he better than Weg ? Can he stay fit for more than 3 games ? If the answer is yes sign him up. I have never seen him play but we need multiple strikers IMO and what I have read here he has potential so that's good enough for me. No way we get Kane they would never sell him to us .
If the club has limited funds are they not better spent on an established forward?
That's the question, isn't it. If he comes in and is the only forward who does next season, he'll be under huge pressure. Does he look good enough to be leading the line and get 15 - 20 goals in the PL?
Really like him, and for the quoted price it's a no brainer.
Comparisons with Haaland are daft though - I've only watched his highlights/a game for the national team, but he gives me Berbatov vibes with his hold up play, running style and finishing. One of my favourite Utd players, would love the regen!
Comparisons with Haaland are daft though - I've only watched his highlights/a game for the national team, but he gives me Berbatov vibes with his hold up play, running style and finishing. One of my favourite Utd players, would love the regen!
I get the feeling we want to use him as some sort of stop gap to chase Kane through out the window. That way if we miss out on Kane we would still have Hojlind and would probably sign our usual ageing stop gap striker
I know I’m not really playing up as Nostradamus by sticking my neck on the line on us not signing a player - but this link just feels like the classic sort of link we get every summer which never actually materialises.
I personally think if we don't see any wiggle room with Kane this week or next then we'll swiftly move on to our other targets. It would not serve us well to do again what we did with FDJ last summer, you'd think they'd learn from that.
Maybe but it's a very very strong link whatever way you slice it. All the most trusted reporters are reporting on it like Laurie, who even said he recently joined Ten Hag's agency... normally you'd get like tier 5 reporters from Italy and stuff saying things, but these are proper tier 1 reports from England. Not saying it gets done of course but I think there's definitely something there, but I believe it's a transfer that's setup only if we cannot get the likes of Kane. In that respect it's smart from the club to line something up if we cannot get our top targets for monetary/Levy type reasons
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