Ten Hag: 'Man Utd wanted Kane before signing Hojlund'

Cameron Smith

• 3 May 2024 11:00 BST
• 3 min read

Erik ten Hag has admitted Manchester United wanted to sign Harry Kane last summer, but were unable to reach an agreement with Tottenham Hotspur.

The Red Devils were heavily linked with a move for Kane in 2023, however the England international joined Bayern Munich for €95 million instead.

Since arriving in Germany, Kane has scored 43 goals and provided 11 assists, although the Champions League is his only hope of silverware this season after Bayern lost the Bundesliga title to Bayer Leverkusen, crashed out of the DFB-Pokal to third-tier Saarbrucken and were beaten in the German Super Cup final in August.

Following their unsuccessful pursuit of Kane, Man Utd eventually signed Atalanta forward Rasmus Hojlund for €73.9m. The Denmark international has scored 14 goals so far this season, but he failed to net a single Premier League goal until his 15th appearance in the competition.

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What has Erik ten Hag said?

Speaking to Sky Sports’ Gary Neville, Ten Hag admitted that Man Utd wanted to sign Kane before they purchased Hojlund.

“In the last decade and in this period, we couldn't always get the players we wanted,” Ten Hag told Neville. “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.

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“We have had some choices made with talents like Rasmus Hojlund. I can see a striker who already proved it, who we wanted to sign and we couldn't get him. And then we went to Rasmus because he's a talent.”

Ten Hag was then asked if he was referring to Kane and he replied: “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.”