Man Utd tipped to sell another huge signing before transfer deadline
Manchester United have been tipped to sell another huge signing before the January transfer window slams shut.
Ruben Amorim has already offloaded £82m signing Antony – the Brazilian joining Real Betis on loan – and is ready to sanction the departure of Marcus Rashford and Casemiro.
Rashford has been linked with a number of domestic and foreign clubs but his huge wages are putting off potential suitors, which includes Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona.
Casemiro, meanwhile, has attracted interest from clubs in Saudi Arabia, while former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – now at Besiktas – is eyeing a surprise move for the Brazilian.
Ex-Premier League midfielder Robbie Earle suspects Manchester United could look to offload another big-money signing before the transfer deadline in Rasmus Hojlund.
Much was expected of Hojlund following his £72m move from Atalanta in 2023 but the Danish forward has struggled at Old Trafford.
Registering 16 goals across his first season at the club was promising but Hojlund’s contributions have dropped off during his second season, scoring just two league goals.
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand was among those to criticise Hojlund’s performance in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Fulham as he gave the ball away ten times in the opening 45 minutes before being hooked after half-time.
Analysing United’s victory at Craven Cottage, Wimbledon and Port Vale legend Earle told NBC Sports: ‘I’ll rule something out: Rasmus Hojlund.
‘I’m not sure he is… well, in terms of potential and finishing, there’s enough there.
‘In terms of attitude and work-rate… I’ve seen him throw his arms up in the air, he’s acting like a superstar who’s not getting the service.
‘He’s not getting great service admittedly but I just think he’s on a short shrift here.
‘They might decide they can raise some money and they might decide to sell him.’
Ferdinand criticised Hojlund’s first-half performance against Fulham and said his inability to hold the ball up was causing problems for Amorim’s side.
‘I would be surprised if he wasn’t getting a few fingers pointed at him in the changing room at half-time,’ the former England defender said.
‘Hold the ball up, keep the ball, you’re the platform for us to get up the pitch, far too often he’s too loose on the ball.
‘He doesn’t do things quick enough, the amount of turnovers he’s had today… as I said, I’d be surprised if the players weren’t having a word with him.
‘He needs to use his pace more. He was slack and loose in possession. United can’t get out and get any good possession in the final third when their No. 9 isn’t able to hold the ball up.
‘Most of United’s possession has been with the three centre-backs when there’s no pressure on the ball. Whenever there’s been pressure, United have turned the ball over.’
Amorim, meanwhile, admitted Hojlund struggled against Fulham and said the £72m signing has ‘a lot to improve’.
‘He wants it really hard and you can see it sometimes that without training, there is a disconnection,’ the United boss said.
‘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’s narrow 1-0 win moved them up to 12th in the Premier League table, still 12 points outside the Champions League places.