Manchester United must address the elephant in the room with Rasmus Hojlund
It was this time last year that Rasmus Hojlund enjoyed a purple patch for Manchester United.
Hojlund scored seven goals in six Premier League games and fired United to an unbeaten start to 2024. He was one of the most in-form strikers in the topflight and begun to look like the goalscorer the club hoped they were signing when they agreed a hefty £72million deal with Atalanta.
On his 21st birthday, Hojlund became the youngest United player to score in four consecutive Premier League appearances and supporters were excited to see how he could develop.
Hojlund will turn 22-years-old on February 4 and will look back on his last birthday with envy because he was on an upward trajectory. Fast forward to this campaign and Hojlund has scored just two goals in the Premier League, so the difference has been chalk and cheese.
Ruben Amorim recalled Hojlund to the starting line-up against Fulham and the young striker's woes continued, as he looked lost at Craven Cottage and managed 17 touches of the ball.
Hojlund has gone from scoring for fun to struggling to do basics in the space of 12 months, and supporters have grown tired of the little value he provides when he's not on the ball.
You can ignore Hojlund's failure to bring others into play and inability to make it stick when he's finding the back of the net, but the goals have dried up and his displays are concerning.
Amorim was asked about Hojlund at his post-match press conference on Sunday and told reporters: "He works really hard and you can see sometimes without training there is a disconnection.
"We can explain but without training sometimes it goes away when it should be near. Sometimes he goes near when he should make a run. We don’t have time to create that connection, we