The practice time for Ruben Amorim and his team is over, and it ended with a win on penalties against Fiorentina, but a player’s career at Man Utd might be over too.
It has always been said that not many definitive takes can be had from pre-season games, but the last game of pre-season is a different case.
By now, Ruben Amorim has an idea of what he wants his squad and first XI will look like since the time for experimentation is over.
That is bad news for one player, for whom the Fiorentina game looked like the final nail in his Man Utd career’s coffin.
Manchester United v ACF Fiorentina - Pre-Season Friendly
Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images
Ruben Amorim sends clear Rasmus Hojlund message
Matheus Cunha started at No. 9 against Everton, with Rasmus Hojlund coming off the bench.
Against Fiorentina, he wasn’t even given that opportunity, as Mason Mount played as the striker to begin with, before United moved to a fluid system.
To make matters worse, Amorim said after the game that the team lacked a striker presence, and he has one now, pointing to Benjamin Sesko.
That is a brutal outlook for Hojlund, who, apparently, isn’t even worthy of being considered for selection anymore as a striker for Man Utd.
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Hojlund has done well in pre-season, and he was clearly determined to stay, but Amorim couldn’t have sent a clearer message to him vs Fiorentina that he’s not wanted at Old Trafford.
It’s ruthlessness in its clearest form from the Man Utd manager, as the Dane has been discarded like an old toy once Amorim got a new one in the form of Sesko.
The way his minutes have decreased with each pre-season game has been directly proportional to the noise around his future increasing with each day.
Zero minutes coincides with the strongest doubt over his future here. He has probably kicked his last ball for his dream club. At least temporarily.
Man Utd can’t discard Hojlund for cheap
The argument to let Hojlund go makes some sense when considering his output for the last two years, but there are clear mitigating factors.
He arrived as an injured teenager for an immense fee, was dropped into a dysfunctional team that recorded back-to-back worst-ever Premier League finishes, and had no hiding place/senior man to learn from.
Considering he still netted in double figures in the two most anaemic seasons of goalscoring from the club, there is clearly still a player there.
United shouldn’t discard a player with potential like that as if he’s one from the scrap heap, especially not for the £30m asking price that’s been briefed around.
A loan with a buy option has to be worth at least £40 million in total, because United have been a graveyard for talent the past two seasons.
If Hojlund clicks, which is more likely than his current form suggests, then United have to come away without regrets over what they could have done with him, or his asking price.