It's no secret that MUFC are in for a striker. It's no secret that MUFC have been in for a striker since the dawn of time. Okay that's an overexaggeration but you get my point.
From Viktor Gyokeres to Hugo Ekitike and even Nicolas Jackson 🥴, United have been linked to every striker available. The latest of which is Ollie Watkins and Benjamin Sesko.
However, in recent days the man himself David Ornstein put it out there that United are favouring a move for the Leipzig man over Villa's Watkins. I've had my say on who I would prefer and why here. I think one gives us more guarantees than the other but lemme know your thoughts.
News has been circulating in the past 24 hours that MUFC would be willing to include current no 9 Rasmus Hojlund as part of a swap deal in order to sign Sesko. The Slovenian is going to cost around £70m and if Hojlund were to go the other way, that could help reduce what is thought to be a high fee.
Laurie Whitwell is saying that "Rasmus Hojlund’s future is unclear amid Manchester United’s pursuit of Benjamin Sesko.
But he has not been directly told he is up for sale + so is giving no instruction to search for clubs, hence why Inter chose Ange-Yoan Bonny."
Fabrizio Romano has also added that "Rasmus Hojlund is a dream target for RB Leipzig but the player would love to stay at Manchester United and is not entertaining any negotiations with other clubs at this stage" via ManUnitedZone_.
So it seems that there is a chance that this swap could take place. However, theplayer himself has said that he wants to "stay and fight" for his place in the team - Chris Wheeler. But something that Ornstein said about a week ago suggested that the Dane was more out than in: "There’s a very good chance that Rasmus Hojlund moves on from Manchester United" via ManUnitedZone_.
The United boss then came out with interesting comments regarding the striker and his future post the win over Bournemouth:
"I'm really happy with Rasmus, I don't know what is going to happen until the market is closed" - Sky Sports News.
There's also been a lot of talk about how the manager and player have been working really hard in training to improve the forward's game. I've also just had a gut feeling that Amorim would like to keep the 22 year old but these type of comments and reports makes me think that he wouldn't mind letting him go either.
Looking at several strikers in the window also tells us that the boss wasn't happy with what he saw in his attack, which even a blind man can see wasn't good enough.
But should we swap him?
I know that people have their reservations (to put it mildly) about this player and admittedly, even as someone who backed him for a long time, I too am struggling to support this guy.
Hojlund isn't completely useless. Somewhat, yes, but completely? Not for me.
Why I backed him for so long was because I see the potential there. The Dane has a lot of attributes that you would want in a striker: big, strong, good finishing, decent movement and is faster than you think. When you put it like that, what's not to like?
Yet watching him and particularly last season, there was quite a lot to not like.
For some reason, what strengths he showed in his first campaign all but disappeared in his second. Those runs weren't evident; he wasn't holding the ball up as well; the link up play vanished; there was a lack of movement; and he didn't score that much.
Not all of this was down to him because the team around Hojlund hardly created anything but that still doesn't explain why his overall game would decline. If anything, it should've just been the number of goals and chances that decreased.
On top of this, he is a young player. For a 22 year old to be the striker of Man Utd with a crap team around him, no mentor and a club that's in turmoil, is a heavy burden to bear. That is a lot of unnecessary pressure put onto such young shoulders. This still doesn't mean he should've been as bad as he was but it could explain part of the reason as to why he struggled so much.
This is why we all prefer more experienced players or experienced players who are already at the club that can teach these young ones. Striker isn't the only area of the pitch where that was a problem but it certainly was the most clear position where that wise head was needed.
I always said that if he had Edi Cavani to learn from, that would've been perfect.
Hojlund has had to do a lot of things himself, things that you wouldn't expect of a youngster in this difficult period for United.
I think there is something that he could offer with one of them being a backup striker. If United let him go, the next true no 9 we'll have is Chido Obi, a 17 year old. Zirkzee himself said he's more of a false 9 so that rules him out.
If Rasmus left and Sesko joined but got injured or takes time to get to grips with things, Amorim will have to use Chido Obi. Is that we want?
You could make the case that Zirkzee could be that false 9 and Cunha and Mbeumo could run behind him and be those strikers but I don't think that that's what Amorim wants otherwise why would we be looking for a new centre-forward?
I think we need Hojlund as that backup. He is a striker unlike Zirkzee and is older than Chido Obi even if not by much so has some experience.
I would feel a lot more comfortable knowing that we have both Hojlund and Sesko as our two main strikers compared to just one of them and then the 17 year old and false 9.
I've always felt that Amorim does prefer a proper striker as well. I think the system allows for either a false 9 or true striker but preferably, a player who can drop deep, link the play, create overloads in midfield, makes attacks fluid, but is also a threat in the box, stretch opposition defenses, presses high and score goals (i. e, a hybrid of the two) would be ideal.
Sesko provides this more than any of our current forwards and would be perfect for what's needed.
And to think that our front three could be Mbeumo, Cunha and Sesko makes you feel a lot more excited and confident compared to if it were Mbeumo, Cunha and Hojlund.
It's a no from me for this swap. I think it's good to have several options up front much like we do everywhere else in the team even in a season with less football. This makes even more sense considering the report from Simon Stone saying that United don't have to sell to buy. I know this is a potential swap but if we don't need to do this, I'd rather keep Hojlund.
What would you do? Keep or swap the Dane?
Want more content like this ? Check out the Top 50 UK Football Blogs for all your news, transfers and more.
Old Trafford | Photo by Harry Walsh on Unsplash
Rasmus Hojlund could be part of a swap deal for Benjamin Sesko | Rasmus Hojlund: Photo by George Wood/Getty Images via Sempre Inter
Benjamin Sesko is Man Utd's priority striker target | Benjamin Sesko: Image credit: Getty Images via Goal