“He has this spirit about him, energy, intensity but also, great technical quality that is simply remarkable” – Gasperini, Atalanta Head Coach.

Early Life

Born in the Denmark capital, Copenhagen, Rasmus Hojland has always had football in his blood from a young age.

His father, Anders Hojlund played in the Denmark system as a professional at the top level and filtered down his knowledge and wisdom to his blossoming son and Rasmus’ younger twin brothers Emil and Oscar, who are both making their way in the game.

Rasmus’ first taste of learning his stock in trade would come at an academy rank with Horsholm Usserod Idrætsklub, a sports club in Denmark.

He would soon get academy moves to the well known Brondby and Holbaek with varying degrees of success. It would be in 2017 though that his hometown team (FC Copenhagen) would take the young Rasmus to their youth setup and where he would start to make an instant impression.

In his first 22 games for the under-19 side of FC Copenhagen, Rasmus would go on to register an impressive 15 goals, this would be enough to notice that Rasmus had something there to work with.

At 6ft 3in, Rasmus has a unique skill set that is not too dissimilar from another Scandinavian that tore up the Premier League in this past season.

He is alarmingly quick for someone of that stature; on some tests at FC Copenhagen, Rasmus was clocking 100m sprints in under 11 seconds. Gasperini, a coach that would take Rasmus in a few years time would say, he would do this ‘without even trying very hard’.

Not only is he fast across the ground, he’s a willing runner, he’s both footed, he can play with his back to goal and his movement was wise beyond his years, and these attributes are what got him his first senior start for FC Copenhagen back in 2020 in a Superligan clash with Aarhus.

It must be remembered that while he had those attributes, he was still extremely raw, just 17 at the time, he made 32 appearances for FCC in 2 years only scoring 5 goals.

It’s not very surprising then at this point that in January 2022, when the Austrian club Sturm Graz came in and offered FCC around €1.8m they took it without any real fight as they thought while he had very good attributes, they felt that he wasn’t going to get the game time he needed at FCC and it made good economic sense for them at that time. From here, the rise is pretty quick for a player that is still only 20 years old.

When he joined Sturm Graz, he made an instant impact there. Upon his debut in the Gernot Langes Stadion, in front of a usual crowd of around 3,000 passionate WSG Tirol fans. Rasmus scored twice against them in a 2-2 draw, absolutely terrorising their backline.

When asked after the match what Tirol defender Raffael Behounek thought of the new Sturm Graz signing, he was stunned and full of admiration for the blossoming then 19-year-old.

He remarked “He will be worth every single penny that they have paid for him”, he continued “He is an absolute machine, when you give him space he is extremely difficult to defend against”

It didn’t take long for the Sturm Graz manager to take note of what an exceptional set of skills that Rasmus possesses and how he clearly was way above this level of football already.

He heaped plenty of praise on Rasmus in his short stint at Sturm Graz saying “Hojlund has always been a very self-confident kid, not in a cocky way, it may seem that way if you don’t know him but, he has flair, speed and a great above average football intelligence.

Rasmus would play a part in helping Sturm Graz push on in the Austrian Bundesliga that year, finishing behind the Austrian powerhouse that is Red Bull Salzburg. It was short-lived as they got knocked out by Dynamo Kiev at the start of the next season however in the Champions League qualifying rounds, Hojlund was their only goal scorer over the two legs vs the Ukrainian outfit.

Sturm Graz were aware of growing interest already from some top European clubs. Scouted by the likes of Newcastle, Roma, Dortmund among many others, however, it would be Atalanta that made the strongest move for Hojlund and they wrapped up his signature very quickly for around €17m at the end of August 2022.

Time in Atalanta

It didn’t take long into his new arrival in Atalanta that Hojlund was called up to the Denmark national team for the first time and started to garner some of the interest that his skills warranted. His first cap for Denmark came from the bench in a memorable 2-0 win in the Nations League vs France. For a short time, Rasmus would also have to get used to a bench role in his new home in Bergamo.

During the months of September through December, Rasmus only started four Serie A games however, it would not be long before he forced Gian Gasperini’s hand and make him a staple in his starting eleven by the turn of the year due to his application in training, his attitude and drive.

On his first four appearances of the new year in 2023 Hojlund scored in each of them. This would set him up for the performance that many have attributed to his impressive rise.

Facing Lazio in early February in Rome, Lazio were heavy favourites having comfortably beat Atalanta in their home ground earlier in the season. However, Hojlund had other plans, for 89 minutes Rasmus absolutely terrorised an otherwise strong Lazio defence.

He completely bullied them from start to finish, in the first hour he almost scored two spectacular goals, one which saw him burst through around 6 Lazio players with his athleticism, speed and drive, only thwarted by the Lazio goalkeeper.

This showed Hojlund at his frightening best, to do that at such a young age and to be able to hold off defenders with ease was a prospect that made other teams around Europe take note of him. It was this performance that soon followed links to Manchester United.

On 68 minutes, Hojlund got his reward for the constant movement, work rate, and bullying of the Lazio defenders scoring a lovely goal that once again highlighted his game intelligence and natural poachers instinct, the ball was out wide, Lazio had 5 men in the box, Hojlund darting forward and constantly on the move, slowing his movement and speeding up allowed him to pierce through the defence and slot home a nice easy finish, it was only easy though due to his movement and intelligence.

After the final whistle is when Gasperini heaped non-stop praise of the young Dane. Gushing over the talent he has seen before him and how he will go on to have a stellar career as every day, he is just getting better and stronger. It was at this moment, Hojlund really made himself known to top clubs around Europe that he is worth keeping an eye on.

His Atalanta teammates were quite taken aback by Hojlund. Martin De Roon and Rafael Toloi both taking it in turns to not be shy to sing the praises of the young star. De Roon was shocked at just how strong Rasmus was and that his strength and conditioning to allow him to not only dominate people but, run hard for 90 minutes really caught his eye.

Based on his stats for Atalanta, on the surface you could look at it and say “9 goals all season” however, look at the metrics beyond just the goals and you start to see why he’s got a very good chance of being successful and why his particular skill set is actually perfect for Erik ten Hag. A twitter handle @TheDevilsDNA published a pizza chart for Rasmus Hojlund which I will share with you here.

You can see his progressive carries, NPxG (Non penalty expected goals), shots on target, take ons attempted and progressive passes received. You’ll see that these are extremely desireable traits especially for a team composition like Manchester United’s that thrive on fast transitions., it shows he makes a lot of runs in behind, he takes high quality shots and in the Serie A, he actually ranked in the top 5 for touches inside the box and shots on target.

From the below shots he had last season (courtesy of @Tifofootball_) you can see that an xG (expected goals) of 9.5 backs up the quality of shots he takes, only taking around 3 shots from outside the box. This is formulated over around 1800 minutes of football, if you extrapolated that over an entire season, you would expect around 16-18 goals perhaps even more if you mirrored his data which would be an impressive return for a 20-year-old and makes the argument he’s only scored 9 goals obsolete.

His speed is very deceptive and allows him to get to the box and in and around the box quickly, you can see below how his speed got him his own chance, which he’s good at creating.

From the aforementioned Lazio game above where he was a complete menace to the Lazio team all game, the way he can get from front to back in a very short space of time, carrying the ball and bursting through defenders will play well with something that United are trying to achieve with their style in the new Erik ten Hag managed Man United.

In his own half, the ball breaks out wide and off he goes

Two seconds later, he’s fed the ball

From here he blitzes through the whole entire Lazio back line

Within 8 seconds, he went from the edge of his own area, to having a shot on target. Insane speed. You’ll see him try this multiple times a game, he’s a strong carrier of the ball and brilliant at accepting progressing passes because of his brilliant off the ball.

His volume of shots are low compared to others however, he takes very high statistical shots suggesting he’s not afraid to hold onto the ball if he feels the chance isn’t good enough. With age, it will come that he is more greedy and takes more and more shots. He hits the target with most shots which is great. You’d probably like to see the total shots to be in the 80-85%.

This is where someone like Haaland (stats below) can be seen to be a much more active shooter however, like mentioned, it comes with age to be more greedy and also, Haaland got far more opportunities made for him at City than Hojlund got at Atalanta, he will get much more made for him from Mount and Bruno.

Manchester United

Being a lifelong Manchester United fan has helped the club make very quick inroads to securing the signature of the 20-year-old, he’s not shy to tell people how much he loves the club and would one day love to play for Man United. In an interview with the MEN in January, Hojlund remarked “Now that you ask, yes, I will certainly not hide the fact that I am a huge Manchester United fan, so for me, it would be one of the biggest things for me to play there but, of course, if another club came for me, I may not turn them down”

Buoyed by the links to Manchester United in early May he said “I must be doing something right in my career if a great club like Manchester United is rumoured to want me, we have to see what happens though” in an interview with publication Tipsbladet

Manchester United will want Rasmus Hojlund for a variety of reasons. Over the last two to three years, they are one of the lowest-scoring teams in the top 6, last season being outscored by Man City, Arsenal, Newcastle, Spurs, Liverpool, Brighton and Brentford, they often lack a true target up front to allow other attackers to use as a focal point and play off.

Rasmus not only has his obvious attributes in speed and intelligence but, he’s not one to frequent away from the confines of the 18 yard box, he will play very centrally, he is happy with his back to goal and won’t waste a lot of energy drifting out wide, however, when he does drift wide, it’s usually favouring the right hand side and this will allow Antony to cut in side more effectively as Rasmus will likely have taken a player or two with him, he is a more than willing runner and has shown at Atalanta, he will do that role however, his best attributes are using his 6’3 frame and pinning defenders.

He’s a good worker but when it comes to closing teams down and also making interceptions in the final third while teams are in their first phase of play he can certainly improve on this, when he gets it right he’s a bit of a pest, but at times can completely miss a pressing trigger, this is the main area he can work on but under ETH and his demands of his striker, he won’t for a moment let a defence rest and it’s testament to him, his conditioning and his attitude that it allows him to do this for 90 minutes, it’s no doubt that this is one of the main reasons that Erik Ten Hag is pushing so strongly for this.

This is the biggest area that I expect an incredible upturn in, more tackles, more tackles in the att 3rd and mid 3rd. However, this can be taught, it’s just a weakness he has and also down to Atalanta’s playstyle they don’t often press incredibly high up the pitch so, it must be known that a lot of players stats are a product of their environment.

It’s not lost on many that, before Erik Ten Hag got his hands on Sebastian Haller, you could hardly call him prolific in front of goal, rarely scoring in the double digits. The similarities to what Erik looked for in Haller, he is looking for in Rasmus Hojlund. Haller had a terrific time in Ajax with Erik.

Haller was exceptional at pressing, however he had many years on Hojlund and was more mature, I would personally expect Hojlunds tackle stats to look very similar to Haller’s at Ajax. If he can become this affective, it will help United really pin teams in and I feel with orchestrated press triggers and actions, his numbers will look like Haller’s below.

In the 21-22 campaign when Ajax’s team was rebuilt and reimagined by Erik Ten Hag to somewhat similar ideologies that is being built at United, he scored 34 goals in that campaign after many years of poor returns. It is for this reason I think Hojlund is a target for Erik Ten Hag, both stand at a whopping 6’3, both very strong, willing runners, operate in the confines of the 18-yard box, can drift out wide if needs be, occupy defenders, will press aggressively when instructed. When you look at both profiles from the 21-22 Ajax team and the 23-24 United team, this signing makes the most sense.

While Rasmus’ overall game doesn’t look impressive, it’s what he excels at that makes him very exciting. Like Liam Neeson. Rasmus has a specific set of skills… A specific set of skills that make it a nightmare for defenders.

Having spent time with the Dane on International duty where, quite like at Atalanta, Hojlund has made himself undroppable by scoring 6 goals in 6 appearances. His compatriot, Christian Eriksen has heaped praise on Hojlund. In an interview with Ekstra Bladet, Eriksen said “He’s a fantastic guy, he’s been developed brilliantly by Atalanta and I can see him at Manchester United one day for sure”. Eriksen did little to hide his admiration for Hojlund or play down the rumours.

Rasmus has the personality, the attitude, the drive, the willingness to improve and the confidence to be a number 9 for Manchester United in the years to come and is not afraid of the comparisons to Haaland. Their frame and bullish approach to centre-forward play will be what draws those comparisons between the pair. Rasmus while not afraid of the comparisons, he says he doesn’t like to compare himself to Haaland but, can see the similarities both being fast, left-footed and strong. “I hope to reach his level but, I will need to train extremely hard,” Rasmus said.

When writing this piece and doing research on Rasmus that I had watched a good amount this season, it was hard not to get excited, I want to taper the expectations though, the comparisons to Haaland will be there due to the points made above but, he is not Haaland, he is a few years behind in the development process to Haaland and, he’s got the potential to be a lot more rounded, and is more willing to get on the ball outside the box.

We can get excited as this signing for me, is an exceptional bit of business buying a player I truly believe will take Manchester United on and when given the right guidance and coaching, will be scoring 20-25+ goals a season with ease.

His movement in the final third, his pace, strength, and want and need to score goals all the time will develop even more and eventually, his shot volume at United will go up and this in turn will start to boost his goal output. I want to make everyone excited about this signing but also, everyone needs to be aware he’s raw, he’s learning, he’s 20 years of age, and his not anywhere near the finished article but, with support, coaching, backing, the fee that United end up paying, in two to three years, will look like an absolute steal, I am very confident.

One of the biggest things that make Rasmus an exceptionally exciting prospect is his intelligence with his movement in and around the box. He reminds me very much of Robin van Persie and Lewandowski at Dortmund. With body feints, fake movements, and double and triple runs to move the defenders around and get 2-5 yards of space to be able to be on the end of crosses. He’s a true ‘Fox in the Box’.

In the move below alone, you can see a triple movement to completely lose the defender, the ball is going down the line, Rasmus is holding off on the shoulder of the defender.

As the ball is taken under control, Rasmus then starts his first movement while the defender is looking at him, he starts a quick sprint.

His next movement is a quick halt while the defender can still see him, this then puts the defender on their heels as they aren’t sure of a front post dart, or a back post chip to head it in

Then as the ball comes in, comes the third movement out the eye line of the defender and it’s a very strong sprint to the front post to finish off the chance with an absolutely brilliant deft touch.

I could show you loads of these types of clips already at 20 years of age.

Movement like this really can’t be taught, it’s just something that some players have and some players don’t have, it’s why above all the things I mentioned that he doesn’t necessarily press well, he doesn’t have a high enough shot volume etc.

Movement like this in the Premier League will get you 10 goals alone a season and it will be all on United’s plethora of creative players to find the runs that he makes and he’ll make a LOT of these. With the guidance of Benny McCarthy as well, it’ll improve his overall game.

There are other areas of improvement of course, his first touch can be sometimes a little heavy but the good thing is he’s always positive with it. He gets dispossessed a fair bit from carrying the ball however, the below stats will tell you why, it’s because he has an extremely high volume of carries/dribbles and for any player to have such high dribble/carries stats, you’re almost always going to find that their dispossession stats are ‘poor’ but, it’s all about context. If he had a low volume of carries/dribbles and a high volume of dispossesses then that would be a worry but, this is very normal

He can improve on his aerial work as well.

Being 6’3 you should see a much better return on his aerial stats, again, it could be a product of his environment, Atalanta and Denmark aren’t from what I can see, a high crossing team and interestingly, Man United were 3rd from bottom last season for lofted crosses into the box. So, while he has a perceived weakness in the air, I imagine United will play to his strengths of his movement and will have a lot of low cut backs for him.

For Rasmus being able to take the ball and run with it, it would certainly suggest that ETH is looking for not only a striker that can hold the ball up and take touches but also can be strong on the counter, he’s very good at receiving the ball outside the box and carrying it successfully into the box creating a shot.

Similarities here with Haller appear again to the 21/22 Ajax team where Haller and Hojlund’s touches in the same areas are basically mirrored, above is Hojlund, below is Haller.

It’s almost like Erik Ten Hag has looked at the profile of Haller and tried to find someone as close as possible to him but also, not have the weaknesses that Haller had. Hojlund is literally the closest thing I’ve seen to Haller in 21/22 while also being better than him at progressive carries and holding the ball up. Haller wasn’t the best hold up man, was often dispossessed or mis controls leading to losing the ball, whereas above, we mentioned, it’s only really because of his high volume of carries that Hojlund loses the ball.

We’re slowly building an almost identical 21/22 Ajax team, for a team that averaged 64% possession and 2.88 goals per game, there are worse teams to try and emulate, they were the best mix of Ten Hag’s possession-based style and ruthless counter-attacking.

Conclusion

While he has some downsides, his potential upsides make the fee Manchester United pay for him extremely important. Pay £50m or so and in 5 years’ time you will be laughing at that fee at how cheap it is.

Hojlund needs to come to Manchester United to further his development and not have too much pressure early on but, he won’t care about the price tag, the expectation, the pressure, he will come to Manchester United with the belief this is his level, chest puffed out, ready to prove to the world.

He is THAT MAN, from Denmark.