In his first season at Manchester United, Rasmus Højlund scored 16 goals in around 3000 minutes of football for the Red Devils. Then last season, the 22-year-old’s contribution dropped as he fell to 10 goals in around 3300 minutes.
Whilst none of those were penalties, and five or six spot-kicks would make the striker’s contribution look different, it wasn’t considered enough to be the main man in attack at Manchester United.
Indeed, that should have always been the case and Højlund would almost certainly have benefitted from working with, and learning from, a more experienced striker rather than having all the pressure on his young shoulders.
Manchester United and Ruben Amorim have clearly decided to move on, and Højlund has been left out of both match-day squads this season.
Benjamin Šeško, also 22-years-of-age, is the next roll of the dice, with Højlund being encouraged towards Italy.
SportMediaSet journalist [Orazio Accomando](https://x.com/OAccomando91/status/1960352568640516525) reports that in the next few hours, Napoli sporting director Giovanni Manna will meet the player’s entourage in Manchester _‘to finalise the final details and try to close the deal by this evening. Negotiations are being finalised. In the last call with Manchester United, the possibility of a loan with an obligation, not an option, emerged. Agreements are close.’_
Despite the cringe inducing name, [Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli](https://kisskissnapoli.it/calciomercato-napoli-quasi-fatta-per-hojlund/) is a good source for information on the Serie A side and used to be the club’s official radio station.
They report the transfer is ‘almost done’ in terms of the agreement, and echo Italian newspaper reports of a €5m loan fee and €40m purchase option which turns into an obligation on certain conditions.