The Debate: Why did Ten Hag sign Hojlund?
After Rasmus Hojlund's arrival at Manchester United, the natural question for pundits to answer was how will the Denmark striker make the Reds better?
On this week's episode of The Debate, The Athletic journalists Laurie Whitwell and Carl Anka dissect exactly that topic, explaining the key attributes and statistics that underpin Hojlund's ability on the pitch.
As well as physicality and pace, Whitwell believes the new signing will add a clinical eye for goal to Ten Hag's attack.
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What Hojlund brings to United
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“I think he brings that focal point to where we saw, in pre-season, Jadon Sancho playing as a false nine,” explained the journalist.
“You want a striker to be ruthless in front of goal and I think Hojlund has that capacity. He scored nine goals in Serie A last season, but he's only 20. So to do that at that age, I think he's really encouraging.
“United know that he's not the finished article yet. He's going to take time to develop and particularly get into the way that [Ten Hag] likes the strikers to operate.
“But when you hear Ten Hag speak about him, you understand the work that went into picking him as his choice because there were other options out there.
“I think [it was due to] the fact that Hojlund presses from the front, he's very fast, athletic and strong, and also mentally resilient. I think his character has been looked into and [I am] really pleased with what you can see there.
“So, yeah, he will bring a lot, but I think he'll take a little bit of time to acclimatise.”
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Anka agreed with his colleague Whitwell, citing the data that underpins Hojlund's potential value to the United team.
“The big thing about him is he's a physical threat and he's very, very quick,” said Anka. “He can sprint 100 metres in, I think, 11 seconds.
“He's big, at six-foot three. I'm sure it'll probably come out that he's still growing because he's still only 20 years of age. He's left-footed and he's very, very good at attacking the near post.”
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“There's been a lot of talk [about] Erik ten Hag saying he wants Manchester United to be the best transition team in the world. Having a no.9 that can get from point A to point B in an absolutely rapid space of time and have the timing and intelligence to get on the end of those low balls into the penalty area will be really, really, really important for United this season.
“Hojlund's not the finished product. I think any player who's 20 years of age, it's very hard for them to be a finished product. But I think there are two or three signs already that he will eventually become a 20 league goals-per-season player.”
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