Manchester United have agreed to send Rasmus Hojlund back to Italian football after agreeing for Napoli to sign him on loan with a conditional obligation to buy – and what will trigger the permanent transfer has been revealed already.
Hojlund has fallen out of favour at Old Trafford after the arrival of Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig. Man Utd have preferred to keep Joshua Zirkzee as their rotation option for their new striker, spelling the end for their former Atalanta striker after two years in the Premier League.
Last night, several sources confirmed a deal was struck between United and Napoli for Hojlund to move back to Serie A. The two clubs have agreed a loan move that could become permanent on certain conditions.
According to The Athletic, the value of the potential permanent transfer for Hojlund will be €44m (£38.1m/$51.4m). That would represent a major loss on the £64m+£8m that United spent to sign him from Atalanta in 2025.
But the permanent move for Hojlund hinges on a factor that won’t be known for several months. The obligation is a conditional one, meaning it would only be activated if a certain target is reached.
The report explains that the condition for Hojlund’s permanent transfer is if Napoli qualify for the Champions League.
On paper, that’s something they should expect after winning Serie A last season and retaining the services of Antonio Conte as head coach, before strengthening their squad with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne from Manchester City, Noa Lang from PSV and Sam Beukema from Bologna.
But the last time Napoli won the league, they followed it up with a ninth-place finish, so there are never any guarantees.
Hojlund stance on Napoli move
The Athletic also relayed some doubts as to whether Hojlund himself would agree to the move, after previously aiming to fight for his place at Old Trafford.
But Fabrizio Romano has broken down those concerns, confirming Hojlund ‘has already accepted’ the move and ‘wants’ Napoli. Only some ‘small details’ are in the way of the move.
Romano adds that Hojlund’s contract if he becomes a Napoli player on a permanent basis would last until 2030.
One important point overlooked in The Athletic‘s report but emphasised by Romano is that Napoli will also pay a loan fee of €6m (£5.2m/$7m) for Hojlund’s services.
That means, should they qualify for the Champions League, Hojlund’s move will be worth a total of €50m (£43.3m/$58.4m).
Although they would be coming to terms with a transfer loss, that would be one of United’s biggest sales of all time and would provide them with a slight capital gain.
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How Hojlund’s value has declined
By Nathan 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.