Rasmus Højlund | Signed for United

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Loon

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I can't be bothered to predict, I'm just looking forward to seeing what our new player can do against Wolves.
 

El Jefe

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I'll personally hold off on calling him an elite striking talent or potential world class until I see him play for us.

Of course he has potential but I think some of you are jumping the gun a bit with some of these tags. The only elite strikers that have been in the PL in the last 10 seasons or so are Kane, Aguero, Suarez and Costa.

He could be a very good striker and still be a success. Elite strikers are rare is my point and until there is clear evidence of that I wouldn't say he has that potential. He could be the next Giroud or Dzeko and that would still be a success as they are worth £65m in todays money at their peaks.
 

sullydnl

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How many he scores in total matters less to me that the rate he returns at, as the former is dependent on how many actual minutes he plays. And being new to the league and this level, he might be eased in.

If he returns from open play in the PL at around the same rate he did in Serie A he'll be in roughly the same category as players like Jesus, Toney, Mitrovic, Watkins, etc. That seems a fair standard to measure him against this season.
 

Strats

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He will probably play 15 mins for us until people start comparing him to Nunez.
 

Strelok

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He will probably play 15 mins for us until people start comparing him to Nunez.
Or Haaland if he'd manage to score a goal or two in his first match. It can go both ways imo. Let's see how the lad does here. I'm excited but skeptical at the same time. Anything is possible.

Imo he'll be a success even if he doesn't score much. He seems to fit the striker type of ETH and if he could do most of what ETH wants from him I'd say he's a good purchase even if he doesn't score much. Scoring in the PL is actually really hard imo and goals should not be the only thing we use to judge a #9.
 

Erik the Red

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The only elite strikers that have been in the PL in the last 10 seasons or so are Kane, Aguero, Suarez and Costa.
I would argue that Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo, Cavani, Salah and Haaland were all pretty good as well.
 

Devred

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It looked like flight FA50 was his plane but it's gone straight passed probably to Belfast :(
 
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Varun

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What's there to be baffled at? He's an elite CF prospect. Top CF prospects are very rare. Bayern are signing a 30 year old after they went a year without a striker because their mid 30s striker left to go to Barca. Madrid lost their mid 30s striker and are using a striker less formation now, waiting to sign Mbappe who is a wide forward anyway. City have Haaland who along with Osimhen are literally the only under 30 year old strikers who are ready for top teams. Before getting Haaland, City went a year without a striker too. Liverpool don't really have a striker, just a bunch of wide forwards. Arsenal have Jesus who is a CF and works hard but doesn't score much.

The CF market is shit is what it is. Football stopped developing strikers so when you get the chance to sign a top prospect, you simply pay up if you want him.

You have Haaland, Kane, Lewandowski, Osimhen, Benzema who are the top level strikers currently. 3 of them are 30+, 1 is at City and the other is getting quoted at 150m+, and was bought by Napoli before he did much for 70m anyway.

You have a bunch of wide forwards who teams try to adapt to make do at CF, to varying degrees, like Jota/Gakpo, Isak, Kolo Muani, even Mbappe, who aren't proper #9's and don't really do that hold up play and being a focal point (or to varying levels).

You have mid tier players like Lautaro, Vlahović, Toney, Ramos, Watkins, Mitrovic who are being quoted absurd fees without having top level potential, so you would pay elite level prices for Europa League production out of them as their ceiling.

Then you have a few youngsters with big potential, like Hojlund and Sesko. And of them, Hojlund is the one of the very few on this entire list who is a proper #9 with all the tools to be a top center forward. Think of it like paying to get a CF in the mold of Dzeko, Lewandowski, Ibra, Kane, Drogba, Cavani, etc at the age of 20. None of these guys did anything at that age, most broke out at 22/23 (Kane at 21). The second these guys break through, they are over 100m and pretty much unobtainable if you didn't get them beforehand (unless you are Haaland who puts a clause in). It's securing a rare profile, elite talent that we happen to be in dire need of as well, and a player who may not be all that far away from stepping up either.

As for who starts... Martial doesn't have the pace or strength or movement in the box that Hojlund has, despite the age. Yeah Martial will get his gametime when fit which is good. Hojlund is barely 20. By the time Martials contract is out, Hojlund might just be ready to be the full time guy. He gives us that threat in behind that only Rashford offers in our squad, he gives us proper #9 movement in the box, he gives us a focal point.
Excellent post.
 

El Jefe

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I would argue that Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo, Cavani, Salah and Haaland were all pretty good as well.
Ahh how could I forget Haaland. Ibra, Cavani and Ronaldo were not elite in the PL. Very good still but not elite.

Salah is not a striker. So I count five elite strikers in the last 10 seasons.
 

Alemar

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Im hoping he gets 10-15 EPL goals this season. Would be very happy with such return
I am hoping for 20 goals in all competitions. Not that bothered with “EPL goals” number - we play in 4 competitions, and total tally is more important in my view
 

dasty

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Osimhen left Wolfsburg at the age of 20 with 0 goals to his name after 14 league games before his breakthrough season in the Belgian League.
Kane failed to impress on his Leicester loan when he was 20 and was not rated at all until he start banging goals for fun when he was 21.
Dzeko had only scored 12 goals in 63 league games (0.19 goals/game) when he was 20 before having a good season and then signed by Wolfsburg at 21.
Lewandowski was still playing for a Polish second division team when he was 20, although he does have exceptional scoring rate even since then with 48 goals in 91 games (0.53 goals/game).
Suarez was playing for Gronigen when he was 20 with 10 goals in 29 league games (0.34 goals/game).
Cavani had only scored 16 goals in 65 games (0.25 goals/game) when he was 21.
Benzema scored 21 goals in 60 league games (0.35 goals/game) when he was Hojlund's age, although 15 of them were in French's third division.
Higuain scored 23 goals in 79 league games (0.29 goals/game) when he was 21.
Aubameyang had only scored 14 goals in 81 league games (0.17 goals/game) when he was 21, with 8 of those goals in Ligue 2.
Aguero was super highly rated since he was a teenager and when he was at the age of Hojlund, he had scored 29 goals in 92 games (0.32 goals/game).

Hojlund have currently scored 18 goals in 69 league games (0.26 goals/game). If you add his cup and international goals in he will have 33 goals in 93 games (0.35 goals/game). That is very good numbers for a teenager, and the thing about great strikers is that you need to buy them before they explode or else you will no longer be able to afford them. Not everyone is Haaland or Mbappe that starts scoring at an explosive rate since 18.
 

bosnian_red

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Disagree entirely that the Striker market is poor.

There's an abundance of talent out there and young talent too many of whom are obtainable.

The difference is EtH wants a certain player which you have alluded too which diminishes the pool of talent United can go for.

As for City, they went a season without a striker because they were getting Haaland, they now have two out and out strikers.
Liverpool have never really played with a number 9 under Klopp, so have no need for one.
Newcastle have Wilson, Chelsea brought Lukaku, now Jackson, have Broja,
Brighton have Ferguson,

As for starting, Sancho will go into the start of the season as a false 9, Rasmus will only start I guess when EtH feels he is integrated into the team.
Forgot about Alvarez but yeah city found a good one there. But it was a random punt from south america who ended up hitting gold. Barcelona trying it with Vitor Roque. We definitely need to hit that market more.

But ten hag wants a proper CF. That's the thing, the attacker market isn't bad but the CF market is. Most of these guys aren't CFs. Back in the day you often had striker partnerships so you had imperfect forwards who could pair up with each other and hide weaknesses, whereas now if the player isn't the very rare profile of a proper focal point CF, they get developed as a wide forward.

Yeah Chelsea have Broja who is mediocre, Jackson who was a random punt who nobody expected much from so we'll see how he does, Lukaku who was an obvious flop when they brought him in. Wilson at Newcastle randomly at 31 had his first actual top season in his career, but again, is over 30. There's like a 8+ year gap between low 20's like Haaland, Alvarez, hojlund, sesko etc and the current batch of CFs like Kane and the others where you just didn't have proper #9s coming through. Osimhen is the only one who is entering peak years.

Yes Evan Ferguson is another huge prospect. Scored 6 goals in 20 games and it would take 100m+ to sign him. Which is my point. The second a young player plays like an actual center forward and shows a high level of talent, you get quoted absurd fees. That's a shit market where you just have to pay up for potential. There isn't anything like Onana in net where you are getting a top goalkeeper for less than 50m at a prime age. The equivalent for CF is literally Osimhen, who is 3x the price.
 

SalfordRed18

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How are people in 2023 still saying "when martial is fit," jokers.
 

Santoryo

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People worried about a 19/20 year old kid just coming after his breakthrough season not having scored loads of goals are hilarious. What folks should be looking at is his rapid growth throughout the last 2 years of his career.

This is how I've always wanted us to buy strikers, while they are still young and on the up. Never been that interested in these proven, old players who only have a few more years left at the top and it's still a gamble if they'd work out at United given we've seen a plethora of proven top players come and bust here. Expectations should be reasonable but what ought to excite people is his ability to grow at an alarming rate. He's probably going to be a much more improved player by the end of this season.
 

AlexUTD

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What's there to be baffled at? He's an elite CF prospect. Top CF prospects are very rare. Bayern are signing a 30 year old after they went a year without a striker because their mid 30s striker left to go to Barca. Madrid lost their mid 30s striker and are using a striker less formation now, waiting to sign Mbappe who is a wide forward anyway. City have Haaland who along with Osimhen are literally the only under 30 year old strikers who are ready for top teams. Before getting Haaland, City went a year without a striker too. Liverpool don't really have a striker, just a bunch of wide forwards. Arsenal have Jesus who is a CF and works hard but doesn't score much.

The CF market is shit is what it is. Football stopped developing strikers so when you get the chance to sign a top prospect, you simply pay up if you want him.

You have Haaland, Kane, Lewandowski, Osimhen, Benzema who are the top level strikers currently. 3 of them are 30+, 1 is at City and the other is getting quoted at 150m+, and was bought by Napoli before he did much for 70m anyway.

You have a bunch of wide forwards who teams try to adapt to make do at CF, to varying degrees, like Jota/Gakpo, Isak, Kolo Muani, even Mbappe, who aren't proper #9's and don't really do that hold up play and being a focal point (or to varying levels).

You have mid tier players like Lautaro, Vlahović, Toney, Ramos, Watkins, Mitrovic who are being quoted absurd fees without having top level potential, so you would pay elite level prices for Europa League production out of them as their ceiling.

Then you have a few youngsters with big potential, like Hojlund and Sesko. And of them, Hojlund is the one of the very few on this entire list who is a proper #9 with all the tools to be a top center forward. Think of it like paying to get a CF in the mold of Dzeko, Lewandowski, Ibra, Kane, Drogba, Cavani, etc at the age of 20. None of these guys did anything at that age, most broke out at 22/23 (Kane at 21). The second these guys break through, they are over 100m and pretty much unobtainable if you didn't get them beforehand (unless you are Haaland who puts a clause in). It's securing a rare profile, elite talent that we happen to be in dire need of as well, and a player who may not be all that far away from stepping up either.

As for who starts... Martial doesn't have the pace or strength or movement in the box that Hojlund has, despite the age. Yeah Martial will get his gametime when fit which is good. Hojlund is barely 20. By the time Martials contract is out, Hojlund might just be ready to be the full time guy. He gives us that threat in behind that only Rashford offers in our squad, he gives us proper #9 movement in the box, he gives us a focal point.
Great post mate.

Saw this on reddit, which I thought was a good perspective to look at the fee with.

Great perspective indeed !

Someone is reading Redcafe :lol:
 

Santoryo

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I've ruffled a few feathers by saying this too but I think you're right.
I mean is this even that controversial an opinion? If and this is a massively big if, Martial is fit(and not just fit to kick a ball but fit to play and actually run. Not the version we had toward the end of last season who couldn't really run but the version at the start of Ten Hag's tenure) he'll start, there is no doubt about it.

Realistically though, that won't be the case because Martial is unlikely to ever be fit let alone 100% fit to even string a few games together.
 

Castia

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When Martial is fit, I presume he will start ahead of him.
God I hope not

He’s just not good enough and hasn’t been for years even putting aside his injury issues

If he can’t dislodge Martial we have a problem because there must be at least 15+ strikers in the Prem that could he’s shite
 
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Djemba-Djemba

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I cannot believe we still have people saying oh if Martial is fit blah blah blah.

He's an utter crock, it's been 3 years since he was fit for an extended period of time. People need to forget this idea he's ever going to be fully fit again .

Even when he does get on the pitch , he seems terrified of running or any contact so he's fairly useless unless you can lay a tap in on a plate for him.
 
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