After the NFL the CL is top tier entertainment.
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Denis Irwin involved @Little_Lord_Fauntleroy
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I detest him
I often wondered about the hatred for Irwin on here, whatās the story?
@Little_Lord_Fauntleroy is an Oranjeman
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He was the darling of the 90s footix which irked but also then a dutch football fan opened my eyes and his hatred of him and his reasoning hit home
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United should buy him
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Iām talking shite, heās after winning them the game there
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Fire More People
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666 eh
Rasmus Hojlund was told he had no Manchester United future after Grimsby. This is how and why he left
Rasmus Hojlund did not want to leave Manchester this summer, so it is one of those quirks football throws up now and again that he should be returning so soon.
Only two and a half weeks since departing on loan to Napoli, where he needed just 14 minutes to score against Fiorentina on his debut at the weekend, he is back in the city he has called home for the past two years, preparing to play Manchester City in the Champions League on Thursday night.
Hojlund might otherwise have spent this week training at Carrington, without European football, trying to force his way back into Ruben Amorimās thinking.
That was always the plan: to remain a Manchester United player āwhatever happensā, as he told journalists in Chicago, after scoring in a 4-1 friendly win against Bournemouth. Hojlund only finished moving into a new, rented property in Altrincham upon returning from that pre-season tour of the United States.
His resolve to stay at United held firm all the way into the final week of the summer transfer window, but was eventually broken following the penalty shootout defeat against Grimsby Town.
According to those familiar with the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, a meeting was held between Hojlund and key decision-makers at United after that game, where the 22-year-old was directly told that he no longer had a future at Old Trafford.
Hojlund had previously been advised to explore his options, but he had backed himself to compete with Benjamin Sesko, the ā¬76.5million (Ā£66.4m; $90.7m) forward signed from RB Leipzig, believing he could still impress Amorim in training and win back his place.
But the defeat at Blundell Park was the third game in a row Hojlund had been left out of the squad, and exiting the Carabao Cup also wiped six potential fixtures off Unitedās 2025-26 schedule. Already without European football, even fewer games made staying more difficult. When the clear, unequivocal message came that he had no future at United, Hojlund was forced to accept he would have to leave.
Enthused by the proposition of joining the Serie A champions, Hojlund flew to Italy that weekend, finalising a season-long loan the following Monday. Hojlund will join Napoli permanently in a ā¬44m transfer if Antonio Conteās side qualify for next seasonās Champions League, as expected.
Few players leave United with as much goodwill. Hojlund was a well-liked and popular member of the squad, winning friends with his karaoke at the FA Cup final afterparty and his colourful Instagram captions celebrating goals and victories.
He is a boyhood United supporter, too, which only hardened his desire to stay. No club must keep a player simply because they are a fan, though, and Hojlund had spent two years as Unitedās first-choice striker without ever finding consistency. A record of 26 goals in 95 appearances should not guarantee any centre-forward their place.
Amid last seasonās struggles, it became easy to forget that Hojlund ended his first year in Manchester as Unitedās top scorer in all competitions with 16 goals, including 10 in the Premier League.
Those goals came in spurts, with his first in domestic competition only arriving on Boxing Day, but his performances were Unitedās only real bright spark during a dismal Champions League campaign. Hojlundās five goals in six games ā including one away at Bayern Munich ā could not prevent an early group-stage exit.
When all was said and done, it was a reasonable return for a young centre-forward without penalty-taking duties, who arrived with only a single season of experience in a major European league, all while attempting to live up to an initial ā¬75m price tag.
The total value of Unitedās ā¬85m agreement with Atalanta represented almost ā¬1m for every senior appearance Hojlund had made in his club career until that point. Rarely has the gap between transfer outlay and a playerās experience been so wide for a United signing.
Scrutiny intensified last season as Hojlund only scored 10 times in all competitions, including just four in the Premier League, and endured a 21-game barren streak between December and March.
Even once Hojlund ended his drought away at Leicester City, he only scored twice in his next 13 appearances. During a consistent run of starts over the weeks that followed, he was visibly low on confidence.
Hojlundās struggles to regain form during that period were complicated by a foot issue that he was carrying throughout the final months of the campaign.
Allowing the injury to heal would have sidelined him for up to three weeks, but a lack of alternatives and the critical importance of Unitedās Europa League campaign meant there was little opportunity for him to drop out of contention for selection.
Hojlund became Amorimās only available, recognised striker following Joshua Zirkzeeās redeployment as a No 10, and the subsequent hamstring injury that all but ruled Zirkzee out of the climax to the campaign. United had also decided against registering 17-year-old Chido Obi in their European squad.
Those familiar with the situation say he also wanted to keep playing on while managing the injury, rather than rest and recover, acknowledging how critical a period it was for the club.
Although hampered by the issue, Hojlund started nine of Unitedās final 10 games after Zirkzeeās hamstring injury against Newcastle United, including the Europa League final in Bilbao.
That inability to rotate and recover had not only been an issue last season, however, as Hojlund admitted this summer. āYouāre not going to tell me that I shouldnāt be playing because I want to play every game, but obviously I could have done with some help in sharing the games a bit, especially in the beginning,ā he said in Chicago.
Even during Unitedās initial pursuit two years earlier, there had been a sense that Hojlund would benefit from sharing minutes with a more experienced striker.
The prospect of a full, uninterrupted pre-season was also seen as an opportunity in itself this summer. Hojlund arrived too late to play on the 2023 tour and suffered a back injury, which delayed his debut until early September. A year later, he opened the scoring in Unitedās first tour friendly against Arsenal in Los Angeles, only to injure his hamstring minutes later, again ruling him out of the opening weeks.
Determined to put last season behind him, Hojlund worked during the summer break before returning to Carrington, training in Portugal alongside Harry Maguire and his brother Oscar, the Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder.
A sharper display in Unitedās opening tour game against West Ham United followed, then came a goal and a claim to a second against Bournemouth. Hojlund had not been expected to start that day in Chicago, only coming into the line-up after Matheus Cunha dropped out with what Amorim later described as fatigue.
Hojlund sought out reporters in the post-match mixed zone, putting on record his desire to stay, but only played another 18 minutes before Seskoās arrival.
Hojlund was never part of Unitedās so-called ābomb squadā and continued training with the rest of Amorimās first team, but was at times used out of position as a No 10 or as a spare body in sessions at Carrington. He was left out of the matchday squad for all of Unitedās four games before the close of the window. Sesko and Zirkzee were preferred despite their lack of any pre-season minutes, and despite Amorim deeming neither ready to start in the Premier League.
Although two years older than Hojlund was when he arrived, Sesko is still a young, raw striker without a direct, like-for-like replacement for his profile within the squad, and is shouldering the burden of a substantial price tag ā in other words, in a similar position to Hojlund.
The parallels between the sixth- and seventh-most expensive signings in Unitedās history are striking but will need to end there if Sesko is to avoid the same fate as his predecessor.
It is hard not to recall the words of Raphael Varane, a team-mate of Hojlundās two years ago, who identified one of the biggest differences between United and Real Madrid ā their approach to integrating young signings.
āWhen you recruit young, talented players, they have to learn before they can play. It gives them time to develop. When I arrived at 18, I had no responsibilities in the dressing room. I was just there to learn,ā he told The Athletic in February.
āAt United, they can recruit a very expensive young player and immediately play him, with all the responsibilities in an extremely difficult league. Heās got a huge weight on his shoulders straight away.ā
Hojlund arrived as a fan and will remain so, but his two years at Old Trafford serve as an example of just how punishing and pressurised an environment the modern-day United can be for young players, who have responsibility immediately thrust upon them.
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Theyād be better off not signing Sesko and cunha imo and keeping Hojlund and buying a keeper much earlier and a central midfielder.
I think Hojlund will go on to be a very good player.
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Rasmus was badly advised to go to united.
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Surely Ten Hagās son represented his interests in a fair and professional manner?
Cunha is a super talent pal. Wait and see. Sad for Rasmus, obviously a great kid.
Youāve Bruno, Diallo, mbeumo and mounty.
Imo a central midfielder would have allowed move Bruno forward.
I guess itās like a jigsaw and where do you start. They hope to have sorted the attack and now have to build midfield.
Would you play Bruno left side? Diallo has to be 10 or right side I think
I wouldnāt be opposed to
Bruno left. Diallo. MBuemo right
Cunha
System doesnāt allow it though
In the system Iād go for Saturday
. Cunha
Bruno. MBuemo
Dorgu. Mainoo. Cas. Maz
.Shaw. Harry. Leonard
Lemon