Højlund’s Dream at Manchester United Turns Sour
It seems as though the dream of playing for Manchester United is over for Rasmus Højlund as the Danish striker looks set to return to Serie A and become a apart of Antonio Conte’s Napoli team. Højlund throughout this transfer window has made it clear since the beginning that he wanted to stay at Man Utd and fight for his place, he also stated that unless the club tells him that he is needs to leave he would not be considering his options.
Pre‑Season Promise and Early Signs
The 22‑year‑old looked set to be a part of Ruben Amorim’s plans as he played in every single one of Man Utd’s pre‑season friendlies and even scored a goal in the 4‑1 victory against AFC Bournemouth during the Premier League Summer Series. However, the message became clear that the Danish international is surplus to requirements at the club after the arrival of new signing Benjamin Šeško, as well as being left out of Man Utd’s squad for their opening games of the season against Arsenal and Fulham.
A Big‑Money Arrival and High Expectations
It has been quite an unfortunate series of events for the young striker. When he was signed by Man Utd in 2023 for a huge fee of €85m from Atalanta, expectations were high as the then 20‑year‑old looked set to be Man Utd’s top striker for the next decade. However, things have not panned out that way.
Thrown in at the Deep End
When Højlund arrived at Old Trafford, he was seen by many as “very raw” but a player with incredible potential to be a top striker however the Danish international was not given much support with no other experienced strikers in the squad to learn from and take the pressure off the young striker. At the time Marcus Rashford, who had just completed a 30-goal season, was preferred to be a main stay on the left wing by manger Erik Ten Hag and the only other striker option in the team was Anthony Martial who around this time was known more for being injury prone. So it was pretty much up to the young striker to adapt the Premier League as quickly as he could. On September 3, 2023 Højlund made his club debut against Arsenal and the young striker struggled to open his account for the club in the Premier League for 14 games which equates to around 4 months and 19 weeks without a goal in the league until December 26 on Boxing Day when Højlund broke his duck and scored the winner in a 3-2 victory against Aston Villa. Since that game, Højlund went on a hot streak and scored 6 goals in 6 Premier League games as well as if you include his goals in the FA Cup he went on to scored 10 goals in 8 games for Man Utd.
Champions League Form
The striker seemingly finding his stride and showing everyone his potential and it is also important to note that during Rasmus Højlund’s barren run of goals in the Premier League was still scoring in the Champions League and the tied top scorer in the competition during the group stage with 5 goals in 6 games before his Boxing Day triumph. Højlund ended the 2023/24 campaign with 16 goals and 2 assists in all competitions which is a solid return for a young striker thrown into the deep end.
Injury Setbacks and Loss of Confidence
The 2024/25 season is where the problems began for the Danish striker when he picked up an injury during Man Utd’s pre-season friendly against Arsenal where he scored the opener and was not available for Man Utd until September 2024. When Højlund returned to the team, he seemed a different player completely low on confidence as he once again went on a goal scoring draught however this time around his goals were primarily reserved for the Europa League games as he managed 6 goals and 2 assist in 15 games while in the Premier League he only manged 4 goals and 32 games.
A New Manager, Same Struggles
As mentioned previously Højlund seemed like a completely different player who was struggling with pretty much every aspect of his game and even with the arrival of new manager Ruben Amorim, Højlund still could not recover the promise he showed in the previous season leaving many fans frustrated and referencing his huge price tag.
Napoli’s Interest and a Serie A Return
Fast forward to now where it seems the 22-year-old will be returning to the league where the world started to take notice of him in Serie A with the 2024/25 Scudetto champions Napoli looking like the favourites to sign the young striker on loan with a possible obligation to buy clause as Rasmus Højlund himself has stated that if he was to leave Man Utd that he wants assurance of his future, in other means he wants to make sure that next club he goes to wants to keep him in their plans for the future and not be made to return to Man Utd.
