Ten Hag told that €74m Man Utd signing is a Championship player

Tom Weber

• Updated: 19 Dec 2023 14:23 GMT
• 3 min read

Former Premier League player Tony Cascarino is not convinced that Rasmus Hojlund is ready to lead the line for Manchester United.

The €74 million summer signing has had a strange start to life at Old Trafford. The 20-year-old striker is the joint-top scorer in the Champions League but is yet to find the back of the net in the Premier League.

While it is clear that the young Dane has bags of potential, questions have been asked about Man Utd's decision to splash the cash and make him their starting striker for the campaign given that he was coming off just one good season at the highest level.

Hojlund's Premier League goal drought appears to have vindicated those critical voices and even the Red Devils hierarchy is starting to think that another striker needs to be brought in. In addition to being heavily linked with Serhou Guirassy, FootballTransfers has been able to reveal that Man Utd are also interested in Mauro Icardi.

Former Premier League player Tony Cascarino has now joined the chorus of voices who believe that Hojlund is not yet ready to lead the line for a club like Man Utd.

What did Cascarino say?

Writing for The Times, the former Republic of Ireland international claimed that Hojlund reminds him of ex-Tottenham flop Roberto Soldado, who was signed for €30m but only scored 13 goals in 74 matches.

“I can’t believe Rasmus Hojlund hasn’t scored a Premier League goal yet. He joined Manchester United for £72m, has started 10 games and it’s almost Christmas! He’s only 20 years old and hopefully he turns out to be a good player, but I can’t remember a striker making a start like this to his United career.”

“This will sound harsh, but he reminds me of a good Championship centre forward who battles away, fights for everything, not much pace…I’ve seen glimpses of quality but there haven’t been moments when I’ve come away thinking ‘He’ll get 20 goals.' As a manager, you can’t wait too long for a striker to come good."

"I think of Roberto Soldado at Tottenham Hotspur. They gave him two seasons and the second was even worse than the first. It’s like a goalkeeper who keeps dropping it in the net – if you wait too long to move on, you’ll be sacked.”