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Manchester United will reportedly leave out Rasmus Hojlund for their Premier League opener against Arsenal amid interest from AC Milan.
Manchester United forward Rasmus Hojlund (AP)
Manchester United will reportedly leave out 22-year-old centre forward Rasmus Hojlund for their Premier League 2025-26 opener against Arsenal on Sunday (August 17). According to The Athletic, he has been told by manager Ruben Amorim that his minutes this year would be limited.
This comes in light of United signing Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig in a deal worth up to £73.7million (Rs. 874 crore). They also have Joshua Zirkzee for the number nine role, while two further new signings, Bryan Mbuemo and Matheus Cunha, could play the false-nine role as well.
Hojlund is subject to good interest from some clubs across Europe, with discussions with Italian giants AC Milan and RB Leipzig reportedly being the most advanced. However, the youngster’s camp has remained adamant that he wants to stay in Manchester and fight for his place.
The report described his off-field attitude as being of ‘commitment and professionalism’ during this time.
The Red Devils are set to be looking to offload Hojlund, and are open to both a permanent transfer and a loan arrangement. But they’ll be unable to recoup what they spent on him. He was signed for around £73 million, which is, interestingly, not too different from Sesko’s. Hojlund’s time at Old Trafford has been one of inconsistency and flashes of brilliance combined with big, bad patches for an overall 26 goals in 95 games.
Amorim had remained noncommittal over Hojlund in his most recent press comments.
“It’s an additional option [to play him]. We’ll see. We’re focused on the match, and Rasmus is still our player,” he said ahead of the game against Arsenal.
It remains to be seen if Sesko will start or play any part in the game against the North-Londoners, who were reported to be huge admirers of him at the start of the window. Amorim has been effusive in his praise for the Slovenian’s qualities before.
“The guy is always thinking about football,” Amorim said recently. “He’s really obsessed by that and that is a good thing because you don’t have to think about that aspect with that young guy. I don’t need to tell Ben, ‘this is Manchester United, a lot of pressure, you have to perform, you need to be ready for the physicality, we need to be ready for every game, it’s like do-or-die’. With that guy, I have not that concern. I have the opposite, [he needs to] enjoy [himself] a little bit!”
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