Manchester United haven’t managed the well-publicised rebuild they were promising and the fans were waiting for, and United in Focus can report that alarm bells surround one player.
The unwanted five are as good as out of Man Utd at this point, so Ruben Amorim has got his wish half-fulfilled.
With Bryan Mbeumo’s signing, he’s managed to add 35 Premier League goals to the team as well, but from the players he is actively working with, one player is making the club very worried.
It is happening to an extent that the prospect of ‘enormous loss’ on him is preventing Man Utd from buying another player.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty ImagesMan Utd’s ‘very worried’ about Rasmus Hojlund
Rasmus Hojlund hasn’t had the best of times at Old Trafford, especially after taking a big step backwards from a promising debut season at the club.
Hojlund struggled badly for form last season, and his confidence looked shot, leading to reports of United looking to sell him this summer.
However, now that no new striker has arrived, and Amorim regularly backed Hojlund last season, Man Utd fans are hoping for a resurgence.
While that isn’t out of the picture, the current sentiment at the club regarding Hojlund is full of worries, because they see the investment made in him as effectively a sunk cost.
United in Focus spoke to transfer insider Graeme Bailey, who reported the latest around Hojlund at United, a sentiment that is felt for another player as well.
Bailey said: “[Benjamin Sesko] is very expensive and they really don’t want another Hojlund situation, that is against them – they were not able to get rid of him, no reasonable offer was made – they are very worried about him, same with [Mason] Mount – the losses could be enormous.”
The deal for Hojlund has made Man Utd so wary that they are thinking twice before buying a young striker like Sesko for a huge fee again.
Man Utd’s fears for Hojlund coming to fruition
Their fears for Hojlund have already come to fruition in this window after they received only loan offers for a player who, theoretically, could improve a lot in a better atmosphere.
The idea behind buying Hojlund was that even if it doesn’t work out, they can at least sell other teams on his potential and get their money back.
However, this transfer window and the lack of concrete interest in Hojlund have seen their worst fears realised, that a player, no matter how young, can’t be sold for profit if the initial investment was ludicrous.
The same goes for Mount, who has had an injury-riddled time at Old Trafford and is another favourite of Ruben Amorim.
If they were to put Mount on the transfer list this summer, it is easy to presume that they won’t get many offers, let alone proposals that come close to the £55m they paid for him.
‘Enormous losses’ is a term Ineos might have to get increasingly familiar with in the next two summer windows, as well as the Glazer era contracts come off the books.
There’s no other way to get around this mess. Their worry is understandable.