Manchester United will complete a transfer that could eventually be worth £43m after Fabrizio Romano confirmed all the relevant documentation has now bee signed.
Man Utd are determined to sign a new goalkeeper and potentially add a central midfielder before Monday’s 7pm deadline. However, of equal importance to the Red Devils is who stays and who goes.
United are refusing to let Kobbie Mainoo leave despite repeated requests from the player to leave via the loan route.
Elsewhere, United are actively trying to shift the likes of Tyrell Malacia, Antony and Jadon Sancho.
One player United have found it mercifully easier to offload is Rasmus Hojlund. The striker was deemed surplus to requirements following Benjamin Sesko’s arrival and news broke on Saturday of Man Utd striking aclub-to-club agreement with Napoli.
Napoli are paying €6m to sign Hojlund on a one-year loan. The loan contains a conditional obligation to buy worth €44m. In total, United will collect €50m / £43m if Hojlund’s move is turned permanent next summer.
Hojlund has also approved the move on the player side and will sign a contract running until 2030 if the conditional obligation to buy is activated.
The conditions that would trigger a permanent sale are Napoli qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
With Antonio Conte at the helm and Napoli winning Serie A in two of the past three seasons, qualifying for the UCL is the least Napoli will expect.
Hojlund travelled to Italy on Saturday ahead of undergoing a medical today. And according to the latest from Fabrizio Romano, all the documents in Hojlund’s switch have now been signed and counter-signed.
Romano wrote on X: “Documents for Rasmus Højlund deal have been counter-signed now, all sealed by Man United and Napoli.
“€6m loan fee, €44m buy option clause to become mandatory, all confirmed.”
Latest Man Utd news – Improved offer / Ornstein on who’s next / Mainoo and more…
🔴⚫️ Man Utd table ‘improved offer’ for priority target, as number that will seal deal revealed
🔴⚫️ Next two Man Utd signings revealed by David Ornstein amid Kobbie Mainoo update
🔴⚫️ Shock Man Utd U-turn as Kobbie Mainoo becomes ‘bait’ for record-breaking signing – report
🔴⚫️ Every completed Man Utd transfer in summer 2025: Signings, exits, loans
How Hojlund’s value has declined
ByNathan Egerton
United identified Hojlund as their top target in the summer of 2023 and were initially expecting to pay no more than £45million (€54m, $60.3m).
But they ultimately forked out an initial £64million (€76.3m / $79.5m) and another £8million (€9.6m/$9.9m) in potential add-ons to sign the striker from Atalanta.
It was a fee that raised eyebrows at the time, given the Denmark international scored nine goals in 32 Serie A appearances in his solitary season at Atalanta.
The big-money transfer also came 12 months after Atalanta paid a reported fee of just under £15million (€17.8m / $18.6m) to sign him from Austrian outfit Sturm Graz.
Hojlund initially struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League, failing to score in his first 14 appearances in the English top-flight.
He did impress in the Champions League and also enjoyed a promising second-half to the 2023/24 campaign, finishing his first season at United with 16 goals in all competitions.
But the 22-year-old failed to kick on in his second term and his form actually regressed, scoring just 10 goals in 52 appearances in all competitions.
Just four of those 10 goals came in the Premier League, and he has failed to score in 49 of his 62 top-flight appearances for United.
Hojlund went on a run of 21 games in all competitions without a goal between December, when he scored against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League, and March, when he ended his drought against Leicester City.
The striker was once deemed as ‘unsellable’ by United but the club have changed their stance.
He still has plenty of potential to improve but his value has undoubtedly dropped in the last 18 months.