Man Utd could regret losing star who’s now outscoring Hojlund

The international break couldn’t have come at a better time for Manchester United this month.

While Erik ten Hag’s side picked up all three points at home to Fulham in their opening game of the Premier League season, they then lost in back-to-back matches against Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool.

Now, in the game at the Amex at least, the Red Devils did create chances to claim all three points, but wantaway finishing cost them, so had Rasmus Hojlund been fit, it might have been a different story entirely.

The Danish striker enjoyed a broadly positive debut campaign with the club last season and certainly looks like a player who could go on to do great things at Old Trafford, but interestingly, he was outscored by a former United ace who left the club a couple of years ago.

Hojlund’s 23/24

So, after being linked with him for months, United finally paid Serie A side Atalanta a hefty £72m transfer fee to secure Hojlund’s services last August, and while it could be some time yet until that number looks reasonable, the Dane has adapted to life relatively well in England.

For example, while the club crashed out of the Champions League in the group stages in embarrassing fashion last season, there was a point in which the then 20-year-old was the joint-top goalscorer in the competition, with an impressive tally of five goals in six games.

However, things weren’t quite so easy in the Premier League, and it took him until the Boxing Day game against Aston Villa to open his account, although after that, his quality was clear to see, and he would score six goals in his next five games.

In all, the København-born poacher ended the season with a respectable tally of 16 goals and two assists in 43 matches, equating to a goal involvement every 2.38 games. However, a former United marksman outscored him.

Edinson Cavani’s 23/24

Yes, the striker in question is Uruguayan icon Edinson Cavanai, who joined United on a one-year deal from Paris Saint-Germain for free in October 2020.

The veteran goalscorer’s stint at the Theatre of Dreams went about as well as it could have in the 20/21 season, so he signed on for another year the following summer, but recurring injury problems and supposed homesickness meant his sophomore season was slightly underwhelming.

That said, considering he was a free signing, a return of 19 goals and six assists in 59 games has to be seen as a success, although in May 2022, he left the club to join La Liga side Valencia for nothing, where over the following season he found the back of the net on seven occasions and provided two assists to boot in just 28 matches.

However, while he was reasonably effective in Spain, the Salto-born “genius”, as he was dubbed by Match of the Day pundit Dion Dublin, made the move back to South America last summer to join Argentinian giants Boca Juniors in what has proven to be a brilliant decision.

In 25 matches for the Azul y Oro last season, the 37-year-old dynamo scored 17 goals, meaning that even in the twilight of his career, he is averaging a goal every 1.47 games and outscored Hojlund by a single strike as well.

Ultimately, while having an experienced striker such as Cavani on the books to help guide United’s youngsters like Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, leaving in 2022 was probably the right decision, and even though he’s outscoring the Dane now, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the 21-year-old become one of the best strikers around in the coming years.