Gary Neville worried whether Man United’s new £72m signing Rasmus Hojlund can handle the pressure at Old Trafford – and hopes the club is still hatching a plan to bring in Harry Kane this summer
Gary Neville worried whether Man United’s new £72m signing Rasmus Hojlund can handle the pressure at Old Trafford – and hopes the club is still hatching a plan to bring in Harry Kane this summer
- Man United have signed Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta for £72 million
- Gary Neville believes Hojlund would benefit from some time away from the spotlight
- United were frustrated in their pursuit of Harry Kane earlier this summer
Gary Neville has admitted to fearing the impact managing Manchester United will have on new £72m signing Rasmus Hojlund.
The 20-year-old signed a five-year contract at Old Trafford to become Erik ten Hag’s third major signing this summer and United’s fifth most expensive signing in their history.
The striker joined from Serie A side Atalanta after just one season in the first team, netting just nine times in 32 league matches.
As a result, Neville, who made more than 600 appearances for the Red Devils in his trophy-laden career, thinks the Denmark international could find the transition difficult.
He hopes the club hierarchy will keep a close eye on developments with Harry Kane, for whom he believes Hojlund could be the perfect substitute.
Gary Neville believes Hojlund will need time to adjust to his new environment at Old Trafford
Manchester United confirmed the signing of Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta for £72 million on Saturday
Tottenham Hotspur have rejected Bayern Munich’s latest offer for striker Harry Kane
“I hope they (Manchester United) are smart and (Harry) Kane are smart,” Neville said The Overlap Fan Debate. “And they’re waiting for a deal where they do a deal with (Bayern) Munich, he says ‘no I’m not going and I want to go to United'”.
“United need Kane, they also still need the young lad (Rasmus Hojlund) to support him and go to bed and play his 25/30 games because he didn’t play every game for Atalanta last season.
“I’m afraid we have a guy up front who, to be honest, has a lot of pressure on his shoulders.
“Everyone is going to look at him, he needs to take that pressure off him a little bit. Kane puts United in that sort of realm of catching Arsenal and (Manchester) City.’
The England captain has been at the center of the summer’s most fraught transfer saga, the latest development being Tottenham’s rejection of a third bid from German champions Bayern Munich totaling £86million.
Mail Sport revealed last month that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy valued Kane at £120 million – despite his contract having less than a year.
However, there was a feeling that Levy would accept a fee of almost £100 million given the prospect of losing Kane for nothing next summer.
The 30-year-old attacker had previously been a target for Ten Hag’s side in the window before his price tag motivated him to look for alternatives.
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