Manchester United and Rasmus Hojlund must ignore ridiculous Erling Haaland comparisons

A young, tall, strapping and blond-haired striker hailing from Scandinavia, heading to Manchester with a name that starts with 'H' and ends in 'ND'.

The similarities between Rasmus Hojlund and Erling Haaland are obvious, humourous even, but they end at these surface-level coincidences. Otherwise, in their footballing careers at least, they have little of relevance in common.

Which makes the insistence for some corners of social media to repeatedly compare the two completely bewildering. Whether it be opposition fans looking to point score with disingenuous arguments or engagement farmers looking to start 'debates', the comparisons being made are completely unfair.

Hojlund already has enough pressure on his shoulders. He's about to become Manchester United's desperately needed striker, already a big task, and is coming in for a massive price tag. United could end up paying as much as £72million for the Dane, which is extremely steep for a player with just one season in a top European league and just 27 senior goals to his name.

Want to join our MUFC Pro club for a totally ad-free version of the MEN’s Man United app packed with premium features? Click here

ALSO READ: Every word of Ten Hag's Q&A with journalists

Hojlund has sky-high potential and United are paying so much in the hope he realises it but he is far from the finished article. Erik ten Hag has proven adept at nurturing young talent into superstars but it would be some achievement if he can get Hojlund to instantly become a guaranteed goal scorer.

He is young and inexperienced and it's more than likely going to take time for him to start living up to his astronomical price tag. So comparing him to Haaland is nothing but an attempt to set him up for