Former Manchester United striker Danny Webber has backed Rasmus Hojlund to eventually become a top goalscorer at the club.
The Dane has struggled this season and went on a massive goal drought of 21 games between December and March. He finally broke his streak against Leicester City before the international break.
The strike was his eighth of the season in 39 matches for the Red Devils.
United have been heavily linked with making a move for a senior striker in the summer with names such as Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres mentioned as possible targets.
Nonetheless, speaking to the club’s official website, Webber has backed the 22 year old Hojlund to eventually develop into the player the club thought they were getting when they splurged £72 million on the transfer in 2023.
Webber claimed, “if you look at the goals he’s scored since he’s been at United, most of them are strikers’ goals when he’s in and around 12 yards from goal, with one and two touches in the box.”
He also praised the striker’s “endeavour” and willingness to “scrap” for the ball which he claimed are prerequisites for an attacking player.
The 43 year old waxed lyrical over the forward’s ability and stated that “in the box his finishing is sublime, his one-touch and two-touch finishes. He knows how to manoeuvre the ball, which is something you need as a striker.”
He also labelled the striker as “devastating” in the channels and claimed that is where he is at his most dangerous.
Nonetheless, Webber did state there were areas of his game he could improve. He asserted that the 22 year old tends to waste a lot of energy getting into physical duels and battles with opposing centre backs when it is not always necessary to do so.
Whilst he praised the player’s work ethic he claimed it was vital to not always have your back to goal. He then offered a piece of advice from his playing career when he claimed, “you can use your physicality when needed but you’re working on having one touch then spin, and then defenders can’t touch you. Those are the sorts of things I’d like to see from Rasmus.”
Webber also showed his belief in the forward by stating that he could see Hojlund scoring 25 goals a season in the future “because I think he’s capable.”
He pointed to the evidence of last year where he scored 16 goals despite playing in a struggling team and also suffering from injuries.
“If we can keep him fit and he keeps getting in the right areas, and if we create chances for him, it’s almost a no-brainer that he’s going to get you 25-30 goals.”
Finally, the former striker claimed that Hojlund could learn from the likes of Mohamed Salah in how to time his runs and stay high so he is in goalscoring positions when the team breaks in transition.
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
