Rasmus Hojlund: Manchester United reach £72m deal with Atalanta for Denmark forward.
Manchester United have reached an agreement with Serie A side Atalanta for the signing of striker Rasmus Hojlund; The 20-year-old was left out of the squad to face Bournemouth in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.
Rasmus Hojlund was in Bournemouth for a pre-season friendly with Atalanta on Saturday, the day Man Utd were confirmed to have agreed a transfer fee for him.
The deal is basically worth an initial £64m with a further £8m in add-ons. Atalanta entered talks and wanted £77m guaranteed.
As previously reported by Sky Sports News, Old Trafford was the striker’s preferred destination so there were no concerns over PSG’s interest in the Denmark international.
Personal terms weren’t an issue, Hojlund agreed to a five-year deal with an option for a further 12 months.The Premier League side received a boost on Saturday when Atalanta signed Almeria striker El Bilal Toure while Hojlund was left out of the squad to face Bournemouth in a pre-season friendly .
United’s signing deal is now largely done and further signings are likely to depend on departures.
There is interest in Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, Fred and Donny van de Beek. Should they leave, United should be ready to enter the market to replace them.
Interest in Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat remains high.
“United are aware that Hojlund has more potential than the finished article, but believe training Erik ten Hag could help make him an elite player.
“”Marcus Rashford may have to play a few games as United’s central leader while the 20-year-old needs to adapt and gain experience.
Longer term he is seen as a talent with the potential to become world class under Ten Hag.
United have now solved the three fundamental problems identified by the manager: goalkeeper, forward and dynamic midfielder.
This was done within the budget set by the club itself, conditioned by the financial fair play regulation.
“Hojlund had made it clear that Old Trafford was his favorite destination, so even if PSG had expressed their interest with a takeover bid, United had no doubts because they knew the player.
” they wanted to get involved, knew they did a lot of homework for this deal, and still stayed within budget.
“United convinced Atalanta of what they wanted initially. The final asking price was a guaranteed £77m.” We know United won £64m, so they consider that a win.
We have to stress that he is still a very inexperienced 20-year-old so that is quite a high price to pay for United.
“But they believe that he has such a high ceiling and that he can grow and become world class under Erik ten Hag, so it basically supports their manager’s coaching ability and what the scouts saw in Hojlund.
“We were told it wasn’t because of PSG that United raised their price. “At the beginning of the season they wanted to reach an agreement.
They feel a compromise has been reached, even though they have gone higher than they probably would have liked.
“Rasmus Hojlund has captured the imagination after an encouraging season in Serie A and Manchester United are betting on the 20-year-old talent to become European football’s next superstar.
But how to get the best out of the young Dane?Sturm Graz’s tactics required Hojlund to execute penetrating attacks behind the opposing defence.
“It requires a lot of sprinting and a lot of quick decisions from our attackers and I think those are big strengths of Rasmus,” head coach Christian Ilzer told Sky Sports.
“I think it was crucial that our philosophy and our style matched his abilities perfectly, so that he came into a good environment.
Ras was a great addition to our team with his skill set. It was his speed, general physique and willingness to work hard with the ball.
Erik ten Hag will welcome a fast attacker but it will take patience. Hojlund is promising but United need to make significant progress to justify the effort.
He made those advances to Sturm Graz and again to Atalanta. This next step is essential.
