After Rasmus Hojlund suffered a muscular injury that could keep him out of the lineup for up to five games, Erik ten Hag justified Manchester United’s choice to hold off on signing another striker.
Ten Hag will be without firepower as he attempts to secure the top-four spot, which may be essential to retaining his job at the conclusion of the season, as Hojlund joins Antony Martial on the sidelines.
After spending £72 million on Hojlund during the summer, United decided against signing a second striker and instead spent a further £107 million on Mason Mount, a midfielder, and goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Due to Financial Fair Play regulations, Ten Hag was unable to sign a replacement for Martial in January after the Frenchman’s groin surgery kept him out until April. As a result, leading scorer Hojlund is now available.
The United manager said that he thought Martial would perform better in the last year of his £250,000-per-week deal, but he insisted the team did not make a mistake by not offering Martial more choices.
Ten Hag remarked, “We were glad to have Rasmus Hojlund join us.” “We had a pair of strikers.” We have fantastic things to thank Martial for last season. He thus receives a significant salary with this team.
“To be honest, we should have expected more.” However, if you add another striker, you have to completely rule him (Martial) out before the beginning of the season.
We actually had three forwards in our team including Marcus Rashford. The prospects for the others will deteriorate if you bring in a fourth. Thus, we believed that we had choices.
“It was not feasible for me to bring in a striker during the winter.” Also, we previously experienced issues with FFP during the summer.
On Saturday, Rashford will move to center forward against Fulham at Old Trafford, with Omari Forson and Antony vying for a spot on the wing.
Given that Hojlund has scored eight goals in his last eight games, United’s loss of the Dane is devastating. It comes after long-term injuries to Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw threatened to ruin United’s hopes of finishing in the top four.
Ten Hag acknowledged that his group “must be in the Champions League,” but he maintained that Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the new co-owner, has faith in him.
“Definitely,” he replied. “I’ve felt that way since we’ve had so many conversations.” We are quite similar in the process and have the same goals.