Manchester United have opened the door to selling Rasmus Hojlund for £30million – two years after he joined the club in a deal worth up to £72m from Atalanta.
United want to sign a new striker this summer and are involved in a tug-of-war with Newcastle over RB Leipzig centre-forward Benjamin Sesko.
It has cast doubt over Hojlund’s future at Old Trafford, with United ready to take a massive hit under profit and sustainability rules.
The initial fee when the Denmark international signed in 2023 was £64m and he is two years into a five-year contract, so his book value should be around the £45m mark.
Hojlund has been linked with a return to Italy and as a possible replacement for Sesko at Leipzig, but would prefer to stay at United.
‘I think my plan is very clear and that is for me to stay and fight for my spot whatever happens,’ he said after scoring in the 4-1 win over Bournemouth on the club’s US tour in Chicago earlier this week.
However, United need to sell players to help pay for new signings and manager Ruben Amorim was unable to give any guarantees over Hojlund’s future, saying: ‘I am really happy with Rasmus, but I don’t know what is going to happen until the end of the market.’
Hojlund has scored 26 goals in 95 games for United, but hit the net just four times in the Premier League last season.
The club have decided to bring in a new striker this summer after spending more than £130m on Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo who will make his debut against Everton in Atlanta on Sunday night.
Having seen Liam Delap, Victor Gyokeres and Hugo Ekitike go to Premier League rivals, United are now battling Newcastle for Sesko.
Hojlund, however, has previously insisted that he’s not threatened by competition in attack – as he passionately defended his role at the club.
‘Competition is fine with me, it sharpens me,’ he explained. ‘I’m more than ready. I’m feeling sharp so I’m welcoming everything that comes. I think it’s good with competition and it only sharpens the team.
‘I’m still very young. I think people forget that sometimes, I’m only 22. Obviously, not every striker is scoring 100 goals at the age of 22. But I’ve learned a lot, I think you can see in my game.
‘I’m starting to develop and become even better in the basics. Now it’s just about sharpening myself and I’ve done very well in the pre-season so far. I’m just focusing on continuing that.’
Hojlund finished with a promising 16 goals in his first season. But that dwindled to 10 last term in a desperate United team enduring the club’s worst season in more than half a century.
‘Well, obviously it was a tough season on us all,’ admitted Hojlund. ‘I think I should have done better, I think everybody knows.
‘But also it’s a team thing, that we’re going to be better now. I think we’ve shown now in these two (tour) games that we’re progressing in the right way and looking forward to what’s coming.
‘We played a lot of games last year so it was hard for me to implement anything into the game for me, especially training on the pitch. So it’s been a lot of videos, especially with my movement in the box, and also the timing of my runs has been very important.
‘Strikers always want to score goals. It’s very important for me. I think after last season it’s been a bit rough and I’ve tried to sharpen myself over the course of the holidays and I feel very, very good’.
