Rasmus Højlund | Signed for United

[Abraxas]

If much of the +18 are add-ons reliant on success they're not altogether relevant unless he's any good so that portion doesn't significantly add to the risk profile of the signing.

When you buy unproven prospects they're good deals if they work and shite if they don't because quite often there won't be a half way house. That's transfers in general but especially so when they're skewed towards having very little idea beyond scouts thinking they're exceptional within their age group.

So basically it's not a shite deal as on the market he would easily get back what we've paid out to date, and probably quite a bit more.

 

[ROFLUTION]

I somehow feel that with these type of players we could have done way better by just picking the biggest talent up and sign for our youth ranks. By foreseeing what we need 2-4 years from now in each position.

Option a) Buy Højlund but probably for about 50m because he's a big talent. No chance that he'll be great or mediocre.

Option b) Buy a great talent, spend maybe 10-15m on them at a young age like with Hannibal, give them the chance and phase them in or loan them out. If they don't work, so what? 10-15m is not much, it can probably be recouped some of it too.

You could even buy 2 or 3 Højland-talents and just hope one of them will be exceptional. It'd still probably be more profitable and count for a homegrown player.

The reason we don't do this more is probably because we (the owners) are desperate for instant succes which we pay big sums for.

 

[JJ12]

A player who 2 years later in on loan in the championship shouldn’t have cost 19m + 18

If he pans out it would be an absolute bargain.

 

[RyRy11]

55m for an 8 goal a season striker?

feck sake. United tax and all that.

I just want to contextualise this "8 goal a season" stat:

Hojlund (22/23) - 8 goals & 4 assists in 1,751 minutes.

Mason (20/21) - 7 goals & 2 assists in 1,823 minutes
Mason (19/20) - 10 goals & 1 assist in 1,310 minutes

Hardly miles away in terms of output. You can argue here or there with the relative quality of both leagues and teams but it's not something to scoff at.

 

[Abraxas]

I somehow feel that with these type of players we could have done way better by just picking the biggest talent up and sign for our youth ranks. By foreseeing what we need 2-4 years from now in each position.

Option a) Buy Højlund but probably for about 50m because he's a big talent. No chance that he'll be great or mediocre.

Option b) Buy a great talent, spend maybe 10-15m on them at a young age like with Hannibal, give them the chance and phase them in. If they don't work, so what? 10-15m is not much, it can probably be recouped some of it too.

You could even buy 2 or 3 Højland-talents and just hope one of them will be exceptional. It'd still probably be more profitable and count for a homegrown player.

It's a good idea in theory but in reality there is a very large practical difference between youth signings and guys that play for Atalanta at Serie A level. There's not really a comparison to be made.

We're saying this guy's a risk and unproven, and yes, he is by the standards of our club. But notable youth signings are not even sure fire successes in top flight football. The likes of Chong and Hannibal were massively rated as young talents in youth football, we don't know if they'll ever make it as PL footballers nevermind Man Utd players.

So I think there's a totally different level of extrapolation going on between fleshing out a youth squad and signing a 20-21 year old with top flight experience.

 

[Pughnichi]

55m is nothing really in current market when compared to recent transfers like Cucrella, Isaac, Fofana, Jesus, Mudryk, Fernandez, Richarlison, Gordon, Gakpo

The likes of lewis-potter, doucoure, McNeil, Williams further down the list still fetching around the 20 mark

get it done and play him. None of this loaning him out to develop nonsense. When he’s struggling, take him out. We’ve got options out wide to cover when we play Rashford up top…Sancho, Antony, Garnacho, Amad, Pellistri

money well spent for me…if as expected he’ll continue his crazy upwards curve.

 

[OleGunnar20]

I think a young striker on his way up is the way to go at the mo, what with the bananas prices being thrown around for gambles such as Ramos, Kolo Muani etc. Kane & Osihmen you'd think would be guaranteed hits but again, crazy money.

This guy looks promising on YouTube.

 

[GledTheRed]

If only we had the foresight like Manchester City to grab Haaland for 50 million.

fecking geniuses I tell you.

 

[Dominos]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

We are going for potential it seems.

I'd be interested to know who this "experienced" striker would be if Levy refuses to sell Kane.

 

[Cassidy]

If he pans out it would be an absolute bargain.

No it wouldn’t

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

This season he is a Serie A regular striker, which Serie A is in the top 4 and can also be arguably top 3 league in the world. Half of 100m will be far more reasonable than spending 100m on Ramos and Kolo Muani.

I like this type of signing. I never watch him but his fbref stats is an interesting one. It seems that he likes to get involved to receive passes in the final third and opposition penalty box. I think it shows how good he is with his movement and he is not shy player to receive passes. The big reason of his lack of goals is down to his few numbers of shooting. It seems that despite of having lot of touches in the penalty box and final third area, he doesn't shoot. I think Benni will be able to coach Hojlund to improve on this regard and also he will get more chances when he plays with us than with Atalanta. Physically he looks strong which could be suitable for PL striker and based on the fbref stats he has high amount of take-on attempted which shows that he's also in the category of striker that can create his own chances.

 

[ROFLUTION]

It's a good idea in theory but in reality there is a very large practical difference between youth signings and guys that play for Atalanta at Serie A level. There's not really a comparison to be made.

We're saying this guy's a risk and unproven, and yes, he is by the standards of our club. But notable youth signings are not even sure fire successes in top flight football. The likes of Chong and Hannibal were massively rated as young talents in youth football, we don't know if they'll ever make it as PL footballers nevermind Man Utd players.

So I think there's a totally different level of extrapolation going on between fleshing out a youth squad and signing a 20-21 year old with top flight experience.

i dont underestimate what you’re saying but it seems to me you could go wrong with 4-5 potential talents before 1 succeeds and bruteforce your way to succes somehow. I just think if we had bought 4-5 Hannibals then 1 would succeed and recoup some of the money for the other 4.

 

[JJ12]

No it wouldn’t

 

[Von Mistelroum]

I need to stop refreshing this page! This lad has really become my dream signing for this summer... Along with Costa but that one is very unlikely.

 

[BarstoolProphet]

I never get this 'ease him in...can't be a starter' lark.

FFS! If we're going to pay £50m for him then he's good enough to start, end off.

If he isn't, then don't touch him with a barge pole. Football is what these people do, if they can't do it for £50m hitting the floor running then what the hell are we doing?? We might as well keep the cash and just buy pub players to 'ease them in'.

If you're good enough, you're old enough, simple as that.

Reads like a sarcastic post but anyway, Real Madrid spent 40 mill on Vinicius at the age of 16. He was quite ridiculed his first few seasons and didn't make his significant RM breakthrough before after turning 21.

 

[Hoof the ball]

I'd be interested to know who this "experienced" striker would be if Levy refuses to sell Kane.

Weghorst

 

[jb8521]

Between him and sesko who would you say is and would be the better player or striker ?

I'd say they're fairly similar in terms of top speed and finishing but from what I've seen I'd say Hojlund has better acceleration, dribbling and playmaking ability while Sesko is better in the air. Right now I'd say Hojlund is slightly ahead but Sesko seems like one of those players who could develop pretty quickly.

 

[kirk buttercup]

I do love a good prospect signing. Haven't seen him at all but feck it I trust ETH.

 

[laughtersassassin]

If we buy this guy we 100% need to buy a second striker.

Only way we can get away with signing 1 striker is if it's Kane or if we bring Greenwood back which should not be happening.

 

[JustinC00]

55m for a prospect with 8 goals given our needs and not having unlimited funds seems pretty wasteful

I'm going to give you 2 stat lines


8 Goals (all open play)
49 total shots
25 shots on target
2 Assists
Total dribbles: 56
Successful dribbles: 27
Duels Won: 90
Aerial Duels Won: 31
Accurate Passes: 304
Key Passes: 24
1750 minutes played

10 Goals (2 of them penalty kicks and 2 of them free kicks)
68 shots
22 shots on target
2 Assists
Total dribbles: 32
Successful dribbles: 10
Duels Won: 87
Aerial Duels Won: 36
Accurate Passes: 269
Key Passes: 21
1929 minutes played


Both were in Serie A this season.



The 1st stat line is Hojlund, the 2nd stat line is Dusan Vlahovic if it was being reported we were in for Vlahovic for 55m would you be having the same opinion?

 

[L1nk]

Thought this was a good video to watch. He is raw of course and you cannot get much just from YT videos alone, but you notice how rapid he is and how good he is at holding up the ball and bringing others into play for his age

 

[Longlivekeano]

Don’t know why. He gives me the vibes of being a Striker version of Season 1-Lindelof.

 

[Abraxas]

i dont underestimate what you’re saying but it seems to me you could go wrong with 4-5 potential talents before 1 succeeds and bruteforce your way to succes somehow. I just think if we had bought 4-5 Hannibals then 1 would succeed and recoup some of the money for the other 4.

I think we're always trying to sign up youth academy players. All clubs are I guess, we have huge numbers of scouts for exactly that.

Not at 10-15 million on average though because I think that may not work out statistically in terms of success rates. I guess you're saying that with the idea of getting the best youth products, but I think the problem is that at the earlier stages of youth development the risk is inherently high so the fees may not guarantee much except for haemorrhaging money when they don't work out. We've signed quite a few foreign players for youth teams and not many have actually made it despite glowing reports in Europe about their ability. I don't think that's because they weren't top prospects at the time, it's just the nature of it.

With youth players you have to see 2-3 years down the line just to be a realistic prospect for a bench place. Then probably 2 more years development to be good enough, mature enough physically and mentally to be a regular contributor at first time level for a club like United. It's a very hard problem to solve with accuracy when you're looking at a stick thin 15-16 year old in a Belgian academy.

With the Hojland profile of player, you get to skip quite a few steps and have way more visibility of potential. Comparing against top players in a top league. You pay for that privilege of course. At the end of the day you're right in the sense you've got to back youth as well or there's no point in an academy. Ideally we'd have the expertise to operate effectively across all ages and profiles to ensure there's a conveyor belt.

 

[bosnian_red]

Thought this was a good video to watch. He is raw of course and you cannot get much just from YT videos alone, but you notice how rapid he is and how good he is at holding up the ball and bringing others into play for his age

It's incredibly rare to have that mix of size, pace, agility, dribbling and hold up ability as a natural CF and having just turned 20. He's already been developing really quickly so it's a great chance to jump in there now before he breaks out and become a 100m player in a year like Osimhen. He's an inch taller than Haaland FFS. His physique is made for the prem and he combines it by standing out as a ball playing CF. Just a rare mix.

 

[RedRonaldo]

I just want to contextualise this "8 goal a season" stat:

Hojlund (22/23) - 8 goals & 4 assists in 1,751 minutes.

Mason (20/21) - 7 goals & 2 assists in 1,823 minutes
Mason (19/20) - 10 goals & 1 assist in 1,310 minutes

Hardly miles away in terms of output. You can argue here or there with the relative quality of both leagues and teams but it's not something to scoff at.

Exactly. I don’t get why some people are so against signing Hojlund, he is clearly young and talented and has impressive per 90 mins stats.

I wonder are they the same bunch of people complaining why we only overpaid established players for doubling the price and never get them when they are young and affordable.

 

[croadyman]

If we buy this guy we 100% need to buy a second striker.

Only way we can get away with signing 1 striker is if it's Kane or if we bring Greenwood back which should not be happening.

Who would you sign as other striker?

 

[croadyman]

Exactly. I don’t get why some people are so against signing Hojlund, he is clearly young and talented and has impressive per 90 mins stats.

I wonder are they the same bunch of people complaining why we only overpaid established players for doubling the price and never get them when they are young and affordable.

I think the trouble is people are seeing only 8 goals in serie A and thinking what a crap return,he should be nowhere near any striking position for Utd not even as backup to someone experienced

 

[RC89]

I'm going to give you 2 stat lines


8 Goals (all open play)
49 total shots
25 shots on target
2 Assists
Total dribbles: 56
Successful dribbles: 27
Duels Won: 90
Aerial Duels Won: 31
Accurate Passes: 304
Key Passes: 24
1750 minutes played

10 Goals (2 of them penalty kicks and 2 of them free kicks)
68 shots
22 shots on target
2 Assists
Total dribbles: 32
Successful dribbles: 10
Duels Won: 87
Aerial Duels Won: 36
Accurate Passes: 269
Key Passes: 21
1929 minutes played


Both were in Serie A this season.



The 1st stat line is Hojlund, the 2nd stat line is Dusan Vlahovic if it was being reported we were in for Vlahovic for 55m would you be having the same opinion?

Brilliant post.

 

[RC89]

It's incredibly rare to have that mix of size, pace, agility, dribbling and hold up ability as a natural CF and having just turned 20. He's already been developing really quickly so it's a great chance to jump in there now before he breaks out and become a 100m player in a year like Osimhen. He's an inch taller than Haaland FFS. His physique is made for the prem and he combines it by standing out as a ball playing CF. Just a rare mix.

Isn't he sn inch shorter? Wiki has him as 6'3".

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

Thought this was a good video to watch. He is raw of course and you cannot get much just from YT videos alone, but you notice how rapid he is and how good he is at holding up the ball and bringing others into play for his age

Seems to score some of the types of goals we are missing?

 

[bosnian_red]

Isn't he sn inch shorter? Wiki has him as 6'3".

Fbref actually has him at 192cm and Haaland at 191. Either way it's pretty much the same I guess

 

[Devil You Know]

Thought this was a good video to watch. He is raw of course and you cannot get much just from YT videos alone, but you notice how rapid he is and how good he is at holding up the ball and bringing others into play for his age

Weirdly, he reminds me of Cavani in this video. He'd be a massive fan favourite if we signed him.

 

[croadyman]

Weirdly, he reminds me of Cavani in this video. He'd be a massive fan favourite if we signed him.

Benni could definitely help him with finishing,only need to look at what he's done for Marcus this season for proof of that

 

[Cassidy]

Brilliant post.

No one would want Vlahovic based off this season stats alone so its not actually a good post. Context around Hojlunds stats is that it was his first season in a new team

 

[Bebestation]

Prefer Ferguson as a youngun.

 

[croadyman]

Prefer Ferguson as a youngun.

He won't move this summer

 

[MDFC Manager]

Don’t know why. He gives me the vibes of being a Striker version of Season 1-Lindelof.

Is it the hair?

 

[MDFC Manager]

Thought this was a good video to watch. He is raw of course and you cannot get much just from YT videos alone, but you notice how rapid he is and how good he is at holding up the ball and bringing others into play for his age

Looks like a menace who'd keep both central defenders occupied in most games, close to the opponent box. Exactly what our attack is missing.

 

[DJ_21]

Looks very rapid! Is he left footed? Be stupid not to sign him for only 55m. His price is only gonna rise.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Looks very rapid! Is he left footed? Be stupid not to sign him for only 55m. His price is only gonna rise.

Definitely we should not miss this again. With young talent like him you never know when will he suddenly explode and become the next Osimhen. We have seen Enzo linking to us costing only around 15-20m last summer, we miss it, and then it suddenly rise to 130m in just half season.
Hojlund I have a feeling he would become another 100-150m rated player in future. From what I’ve seen he has all it takes to make it to very top,