Rasmus Højlund tried to fight it. The Danish striker started this summer by publicly stating his desire to remain a Manchester United player, not willing to give up on a dream transfer that was completed only a few months after his 20th birthday in 2023.
But fast forward to August, the big money arrival of Benjamin Šeško from RB Leipzig and the prospect of a substantial drop in meaningful minutes—especially without European football adding games to the calendar—gave Højlund cause to rethink.
After the door was closed on a move to AC Milan, Napoli’s firm interest—including the possibility of a loan containing an obligation to buy that offers the player the certainty he craves—looks increasingly likely to mark what will be a permanent split between Højlund and Manchester United.
It’s a huge shame it has come to this. But it doesn’t feel like there’s a way back. Šeško is now the main man and it’s a case of feeding off scraps that may not come or looking elsewhere.
Højlund has offered a lot of promise, and perhaps still has a high ceiling once he finds his feet with the right fit, but circumstances have rarely been his friend at United.
From the very start, a huge £72 million ($96.6 million) price tag brought its own heavy pressure. Manchester City paid less for Erling Haaland a year prior. But where Haaland was a safe bet—two years older and alarmingly prolific during a prolonged period at Borussia Dortmund— Højlund was unknown to most. He’d played just 87 senior club games and scored 27 goals.
Early comparisons were drawn with Haaland too, primarily owing to their shared Scandinavian heritage and similar physical statures. As soon as Højlund kicked a ball, although even that was delayed by a frustrating back injury he was already carrying upon arriving, the clock started ticking. Taking time to settle in a team that was struggling to keep up with the Premier League’s best was never going to be easy and he was afforded little patience from fans and critics.
It was quickly apparent that Højlund found the Champions League easier than the Premier League. He scored five times in his first four appearances in Europe, including braces against Galatasaray and former club Copenhagen—that all three Champions League games in which he scored ended in defeat highlighted a problem in a different part of the team. By contrast, it took 15 Premier League games to find the net. And yet, that first one prompted a run of seven league goals in six successive appearances in the competition. United took 16 points from a possible 18 in those games.
But that run ended very suddenly when Højlund then suffered a hamstring injury. On his return, United’s momentum had slowed and it was four win-less games without finding the net. When he scored again, the team won every time, three in the last 10 games of the 2023–24 campaign.
Overall, as a 20/21-year-old, he’d scored 10 Premier League goals and 16 across all competitions. It was a decent start in a team that finished eighth in the final league table.
But again, injury hit at the worst time, a hamstring problem during pre-season heading into 2024–25. Højlund missed the first month of the campaign and was trying to build fitness and sharpness in a side not creating enough chances. Things got no better with a change of manager, with Ruben Amorim implementing his own brand new tactical setup that needed adjustment time.
There was no relief for Højlund either, with Marcus Rashford spectacularly falling out of favour and leaving in January, while 2024 arrival Joshua Zirkzee wrestled with his own struggles to settle.
With each passing game, Højlund’s confidence seemed to shrink, but Amorim had little choice but to persist with him. He finished the season with just four Premier League goals, having scored six in half as many Europa League appearances—again, Europe seemed to suit him better.
When the going was good, Højlund proved himself a more than competent striker. In another universe, the marriage could have been so much better. There were flashes, but the timing was all wrong for someone of his raw potential to thrive in a team going through such turmoil.
Still only 22 and with a high ceiling to become a star in the future, Højlund deserves a chance to develop and mature out of the intense spotlight he’s encountered over the last two years.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rasmus Hojlund’s Proposed Man Utd Exit a Necessary But Regrettable Step For All Involved.