Erik ten Hag has stated that new £72 million signing Rasmus Hojlund will be unavailable for Monday’s season opener against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Hojlund was introduced to the Old Trafford audience before the weekend’s 3-1 friendly win over Lens, but fans will have to wait to witness the new man in action.
After missing much of pre-season due to injury, the Danish striker has not featured since scoring in his country’s 1-1 draw with Slovenia in mid-June.
As rumours over his future grew, Hojlund was an unused substitute in Atalanta’s friendly win over Pro Vercelli before suffering an injury and missing the team’s trip to Bournemouth.
Hojlund will not be in the starting XI of Erik ten Hag for Man United’s Wolves
Now it looks like the same injury worries have persisted, and the 20-year-old will not be ready to begin the new season.
When speaking to Sky Sports, Ten Hag was mostly upbeat about the situation, saying:
“I think he’s making good progress at this moment. We have to see day by day how the progress will go, then we have to follow up,”
“Of course when he’s available and he’s here so you have the option to play, but we don’t expect him in that short notice to be 100 percent fit. So we have to wait sometime more,”
Ten Hag added.
After a successful six months with Sturm Graz in Austria, Hojlund scored ten goals for Atalanta last season.
However, it was Hojlund’s breakout performance for La Dea and the Danish national team in 2023 that drew Europe’s notice.
Hojlund is still the joint-top scorer in Euro 2024 qualification with six goals in four games, owing largely to a five-goal performance against Finland and Kazakhstan in March.
United still have enough attacking weapons to field a quality team in their league opener.
Marcus Rashford, who scored 30 goals last season, has spent much of preseason as a central striker, with Alejandro Garnacho filling in on the left wing.
Mason Mount will now be competing alongside Antony and Jadon Sancho at Old Trafford on Monday, while Bruno Fernandes will captain the team.
Hojlund will, however, join Anthony Martial and Amad Diallo on the bench for the start of the new season.
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