At the risk of making all of us feel very aware of our own mortality, it’s worth pointing out that, when Cristiano Ronaldo completed his world-record £80 million move from Manchester United to Real Madrid during the summer of 2008, Rasmus Hojlund was just six years old.
Hojlund, then, grew up not during the days when Ronaldo was donning braces and blonde highlights, but at a time in which the perma-tanned Portuguese was breaking the 50-goal barrier for six straight seasons at the Santiago Bernebau.
“My father introduced me (to Ronaldo) when he was at United. Then, me and my best friend followed him when he was at Madrid,” Hojlund told TLN earlier in March.
“I just like his mentality. I love that he’s so eager to score a goal. The thing for me is he is so passionate about wanting to be the best, and I like it.”
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Manchester United target Rasmus Hojlund idolises Cristiano Ronaldo
Hojlund certainly learned from the best; A player who idolises arguably world football’s greatest ever goalscorer sharing Ronaldo’s ravenous appetite and blood-thirsty intensity.
Atalanta’s Denmark international has often been likened to near-namesake Erling Haaland due to their Scandinavian roots and their shock of blonde hair – one pundit going as far as to say he can ‘do more’ than Man City’s number nine.
But there are also shades of Ronaldo about the way Hojlund reacts to every loose ball. Leaping upon half-chances like a hungry tiger digging his claws a tired old antelope.
In his last 13 starts for club and country, Hojlund has 12 goals. Five of those came for Denmark during the international break; the former Sturm Graz starlet notching a hat-trick against Finland and following that up with a brace vs Kazakhstan.
‘I am a huge fan’
With Victor Osimhen, Goncalo Ramos, Harry Kane and even Randal Kolo Muani likely to command fees in and around the £100 million bracket, reports suggesting that Hojlund could be available for around half that fee have not gone unnoticed at Old Trafford, it seems.
According to the Manchester Evening News, Hojlund is another exciting centre-forward Erik ten Hag is ‘keeping tabs on’.
“I will not hide the fact that I am a huge Manchester United fan,” Hojland admitted earlier this year (MEN).
“So personally, (moving to Old Trafford) would be one of the biggest things for me. But that doesn’t mean that I would turn down other big clubs if the offers come at some point.
Hojlund has a long way to go in order to match Ronaldo’s consistency and longevity. But a similarly iron-clad mentality, and a shared love of goals, should go a long way to helping Hojlund become another Old Trafford success story.
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