Hojlund makes his mark in Man Utd win
- Published
Rasmus Hojlund delivered the perfect response to fresh question marks about his future as he opened the scoring and claimed a second in Manchester United's 4-1 pre-season victory over Bournemouth in Chicago.
The past 48 hours have seen intense speculation over United's desire to sign another centre-forward.
Initially, it was established Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins and RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko were at the top of the list before it emerged the Slovenia striker was the clear first choice, even though United know they are likely to face opposition from Newcastle to sign the 22-year-old.
That places a huge question mark over Hojlund, whose form has been very patchy since he arrived from Serie A side Atalanta in a £72m deal two summers ago.
Hojlund had failed to score in the opening two games of United's pre-season campaign against Leeds and West Ham.
But it took the Denmark international just eight minutes to find the target against Bournemouth at a rain and windswept Soldier Field in Chicago, rising to meet Patrick Dorgu's left wing cross with a combination of his head and his shoulder.
Hojlund seemed to be claiming United's third as well, although that was more contentious given Amad's low second-half shot was heading into the net and if it did touch the Dane, it was the faintest flick.
However, it was certainly Hojlund's physical presence which created the uncertainty in the Bournemouth penalty that led to Amad having the space to shoot in the first place.
"I am really happy with Rasmus," said United manager Ruben Amorim after the game.
"The important thing is he is scoring goals and he's connecting really well with the team. He's improving."
However, on the future, there are no guarantees.
"I don't know what is going to happen until the end of the market," said Amorim.
Hojlund was replaced, along with nine other team-mates, 20 minutes from time, after which 19-year-old local boy Ethan Williams scored a memorable first goal for the senior team. Patrick Dorgu scored United's second before the break.