Erik ten Hag has acknowledged Manchester United’s interest in signing Harry Kane in 2023 but expresses confidence in Rasmus Hojlund’s ability to emerge as a prolific striker, potentially scoring 30 goals.
Despite the Red Devils prioritizing the acquisition of another forward last summer, they ultimately secured the Danish star from Atalanta for a significant sum of £72 million ($90m), opting to invest in his promising talent rather than established pedigree.
Ten Hag has told Sky Sports of that decision, with the club’s No.1 target slipping the net: “This club can only have outstanding players because the expectations are so high. Manchester United is the biggest, or maybe second or third, biggest club in the world, the highest fanbase so expectations will always be there.
Everyone has an opinion about Manchester United and it can only be outstanding players. That’s players who have all the skillset, that is the physical and especially the mental skillset they need to perform and contribute because we have to win every game.
There’s an expectation around every game from us so you can only fulfil that expectation when you have those outstanding players. But in the last decade and in this period, we couldn’t always get the players we wanted.
But then you have to build and you have to accept that you get talent in instead of players who already proved it in the past. We have had some choices made with talents like Rasmus Hojlund. I can see a striker who already proved it, who we want to sign and we couldn’t get him. And then we went to Rasmus because he’s a talent.”
Quizzed on whether former Tottenham star Kane – who is now at Bayern Munich – was the one that got away, Ten Hag added: “Yes, and you know Harry Kane will get you 30 goals. I think Rasmus will get there, but he needs time. It’s not fair to assess him the same as Harry Kane.
I would never compare two players because they are very different. But with Hojlund, I think we had the biggest potential in the striker position last summer and we are very happy with him. But he also needs time to adapt and we are very pleased he showed his assets in scoring goals.
He had a very good period where he scored many games after he showed it, but before and after, he had some physical issues, which is normal for a young player coming up. But it has a negative impact on the team result and that’s what you have to accept.
Then you go back to the fans and the opinion makers, and they don’t understand or they don’t want to understand this. It is how Man United gets judged, they only see the result, but we need time. You have to accept the process is going slower and you can’t then expect to straight [away] compete for titles in the Champions League and Premier League.”
Kane has broken the 40-goal barrier during his debut campaign at Bayern, as he puts them in contention for Champions League glory, while Hojlund – who only opened his Premier League account on December 26 before enjoying a remarkable run of form – has found the target on 14 occasions through 38 appearances.