Rasmus Hojlund’s difficulties at Manchester United may come to an end this summer, as the club is reportedly considering a swap deal with Napoli. The Danish striker has endured a challenging season, having netted only twice in the Premier League and facing criticism for his lackluster performance against Arsenal on Sunday.
Since his £72 million transfer from Atalanta in the summer of 2022, Hojlund has recorded a total of 23 goals in 80 appearances for the club. To further complicate the situation, Manchester United is still making payments to the Serie A club in installments, a matter highlighted by Sir Jim Ratcliffe this week. The minority stakeholder expressed concerns during his interview with Gary Neville, indicating that the club is at risk of financial difficulties due to acquisitions made prior to his involvement.
“If you look at the players we are buying this summer that we (INEOS) didn’t buy,” he said. “We’re buying Antony, we’re buying Casemiro, we’re buying (Andre) Onana, we’re buying Hojlund, we’re buying (Jadon) Sancho.
“These are all things from the past; whether we like it or not, we’ve inherited those things and have to sort that out. For Sancho, who now plays for Chelsea and we pay half his wages, we’re paying £17m to buy him in the summer.”
It is noteworthy that United may officially finalize the Hojlund transfer at the same time he makes his return to Serie A. As reported by Calciomercato, Ruben Amorim is willing to part with the forward to facilitate the acquisition of Napoli’s Victor Osimhen.
United is said to be ready to propose approximately £33.7 million along with Hojlund to secure the Nigerian international’s move to Old Trafford. Currently, he is on loan at Galatasaray, where he has netted 23 goals in 29 appearances across all competitions.
A swap arrangement would enable United to circumvent an additional substantial transfer fee, as Osimhen is estimated to be valued at around £65 million by his current club. This strategy would also allow Amorim to remove an underperforming player from his roster in anticipation of a significant overhaul of the squad this summer.
Thus far, the Portuguese manager has only added two new players to his team. Full-back Patrick Dorgu was acquired for an initial fee of £25.1 million from Lecce, and Ayden Heaven joined from Arsenal. However, the club’s inability to qualify for the Champions League once again will adversely affect his transfer budget.
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