Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund joined Napoli on loan in the summer transfer window and one expert on the Serie A side has now claimed what the forward wants to achieve
Jack Flintham and Neil Docking
14:07, 05 Nov 2025
Rasmus Hojlund has had a strong start to life at Napoli
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Rasmus Hojlund has had a strong start to life at Napoli(Image: Getty Images)
On-loan Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund is determined to make his mark at Napoli following his summer switch - according to one club insider.
The Danish forward wasn't anticipated to leave this summer. Nevertheless, when Benjamin Sesko arrived at Old Trafford, Hojlund's situation shifted and the £72m flop who had fallen out of Ruben Amorim's plans was offloaded.
The Manchester Evening News understands Hojlund was eager to remain at United. However, his perspective changed due to the World Cup at the season's end and the urgent need to secure playing time to earn his place in the Denmark squad.
Should he depart, a permanent transfer was the preferred option to give Hojlund stability. While that didn't materialise, a loan to Napoli with an obligation to purchase did.
Following in Scott McTominay's footsteps, Hojlund has made an encouraging start to his Naples adventure. The striker has netted four goals in nine outings and his confidence appears to be returning.
Rasmus Hojlund has put his Manchester United nightmare behind him for now
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Rasmus Hojlund has put his Manchester United nightmare behind him for now(Image: PA)
In conversation with the MEN, Football Italia editor Lorenzo Bettoni revealed how the Dane was warmly welcomed despite his underwhelming stint at United.
"Napoli fans are pretty much everywhere in Italy when Hojlund arrived, Napoli did the medical tests in Rome and when he arrived, there were so many Napoli fans welcoming him," Bettoni said. "Fans were pretty happy with the signing because what he showed in his season at Atalanta was pretty promising.
"Even if the time at Manchester United wasn't excellent for him, far from it, but they were pretty happy."
The adoration of the Napoli supporters will be one of the key motivations for the United signings swapping Old Trafford for the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
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Bettoni reckons that Hojlund may be drawing inspiration from other sources as well. "There is a factor in the player's mentality, as well," he continued.
"You can see by the way he plays that he has something personal to prove because clearly the last two seasons at Manchester United weren't very good. Knowing Conte, he would have talked about this with the player.
"It's an important task for Hojlund, because he needs to lead the attack while [Romelu] Lukaku is injured. So he has a personal point to prove as well, because he wants to show what kind of striker he is and I think the way Conte motivates the players it is one more reason why he looks so excited to play and is really willing to make an impact."
Nobody would have anticipated this summer that Hojlund would be linking up with Kevin De Bruyne during this season. Yet that's precisely how things have unfolded for the striker as the duo combined to brilliant effect in the triumph over Sporting CP in the Champions League.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 22: Ruben Amorim, Manager of Manchester United, interacts with Rasmus Hojlund of Manchester United after the Premier League match between Manchester United FC and AFC Bournemouth at Old Trafford on December 22, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
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Ruben Amorim lost patience with Rasmus Hojlund at Manchester United(Image: Matt McNulty, Getty Images)
Hojlund will probably have to manage without De Bruyne until February owing to injury, and Bettoni has cautioned that the striker will need to modify his approach in the meantime. "On paper, we have not seen so much of Hojlund without De Bruyne so far," he concluded.
"Technically it will be more about holding the ball and a few less runs into the spaces, but this is just technically because in games when Napoli decide to sit deep and not press too high and not try to win the ball high up the pitch, they will need to counter-attack and Hojlund will be a very important player in this phase as well. Against other teams, without De Bruyne, Hojlund will need to be a lot more involved in the link-up and much more solid physically so that he can hold up the ball, link-up with the wingers and the central midfielders, as well.
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"It will be a lot more about the link-up play and trying to work well with his teammates rather than just trying to make forward runs and runs into spaces."