Man Utd star ‘on trial’ as Ruben Amorim considers shock sale
Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund is effectively ‘on trial’ for the rest of the season after reportedly failing to impress Ruben Amorim since his arrival at Old Trafford.
Hojlund scored five goals in his first five games under Amorim but has failed to find the back of the net in his last 11 appearances, going over a month without a goal.
Manchester United fans expected much better returns from a player who cost the club over £70m when they signed him from Serie A side Atalanta in the summer of 2023.
Hojlund enjoyed a promising second-half to the 2023-24 campaign, finishing his first season at United with 16 goals in all competitions.
But the 21-year-old has failed to kick on this term, contributing just two goals in the Premier League for a team who have been in the bottom-half of the table for most of the campaign.
Hojlund’s struggles continued in Manchester United’s narrow victory over Fulham on Sunday, the Danish striker giving the ball away ten times in the first half before being subbed off after the interval.
Rio Ferdinand, the Old Trafford legend, was among those to criticise Hojlund and insist he needs to offer more to justify his place in the team.
According to talkSPORT, Amorim has also been ‘far from convinced’ by Hojlund’s performances and will track his progress for the rest of the season before potentially sanctioning his exit in the summer.
Hojlund was once deemed as ‘unsellable’ by Manchester United but the club have reportedly changed their stance given his struggles at the Theatre of Dreams.
If Hojlund is offloaded, a return to Italy is the most likely outcome, with current Serie A leaders Napoli and European giants Juventus believed to be interested in his services.
United have already offloaded big-money signing Antony
Discussing Hojlund’s form after Manchester United beat Fulham 1-0 at Craven Cottage, Amorim said: ‘He wants it really hard and you can see it sometimes that without training, there is a disconnection.
‘We can explain, but without training sometimes it goes away, when he should be near, sometimes he’s near when he should make a run.
‘We don’t have time to make this connection, we don’t train these kinds of things, we just talk about these things. He has a lot to improve, like his team-mates.
‘Sometimes you have a good game, other days you cannot have a good performance. The important thing is that I see every day that he wants it really bad.
‘He talks about that [he] wants to train a little bit more in the end of trainings and that is the best thing to improve.
‘But as a footballer, and he’s a young guy, he has to understand that sometimes you have a bad game, but you have to continue to go to the next.’
Manchester United have already offloaded fellow big-money signing Antony, who has joined Real Betis on loan for the rest of the season.
Amorim has also sanctioned January moves for Marcus Rashford and Casemiro, while United are closing in on a deal for Denmark left-back Patrick Dorgu.
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