Paul Scholes has revealed he ‘thought’ Manchester United had signed a player in the mould of Alan Shearer when they brought struggling striker Rasmus Hojlund to Old Trafford.
Much was expected of Denmark international Hojlund following his £72m move from Atalanta in 2023.
Hojlund hit double digits in his one and only season in Serie A and was compared to Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland before his arrival in England.
The 22-year-old enjoyed an encouraging first season at United, scoring 16 goals in all competitions, but Hojlund’s form has gone backwards throughout the 2024-25 campaign.
Contributing just three league goals, Hojlund has at times found himself out of Ruben Amorim’s team and reports claim Manchester United could cash in on the struggling forward this summer.
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Hojlund will get another chance to kick-start his Red Devils career after being named in United’s starting XI for the must-win Europa League clash with Lyon on Thursday night.
Old Trafford legends Scholes and Rio Ferdinand discussed Hojlund’s form before kick-off and the former said he believed the Dane could be United’s own Alan Shearer.
Shearer still holds the record for the most Premier League goals with 260 and amassed 30 in 63 games for England.
Asked what Hojlund is lacking right now, Ferdinand told TNT Sports: ‘Confidence and remembering how to score.
‘It’s quite simple. It’s a difficult time for him and others at the football club. It all comes back to confidence.
‘When I was struggling I would go back to basics in training to try and earn a bit of luck and then you can build up. But we’ve been saying his for a while now.’
Scholes then said: ‘We’ve been saying it for ages. He needs that confidence and bit of luck but too many times he’s not in the right area of the pitch.
‘The amount of times he’s in his own half trying to help out defensively or in good areas but not getting the service.
‘I remember when he first came. I thought, we’ve got an Alan Shearer. That’s big words comparing him to Shearer but I thought he’s a big centre forward, he’s physical, he can run in behind, he loves getting on the end of crosses.
‘But he doesn’t get any crosses. The lad, he doesn’t know what’s coming because there’s no rhythm to United’s play. There’s nothing to suit the way he wants to play football.’
Hojlund has scored just one goal for Manchester United since mid-December.
Man Utd tipped to sell struggling Hojlund
Troy Deeney, the former Premier League striker, expects United to offload Hojlund this summer unless he has an ‘unbelievable pre-season’.
‘Based on what I saw from Hojlund against Lyon, I may as well get fit,” Deeney told talkSPORT. ‘No joke, he was awful.
‘He looked confused, he looked lost. His skill-set is running behind and getting pot-shots off as quick as he can.
‘He ran to players, he was marking himself as opposed to a defender marking him.
‘As a striker, we’re always told if a striker can touch you and feel you, then you’re in the wrong position. He was running to the defender.
‘I just think based on that, he was awful. The thing is, you can have off days in terms of scoring and have a low year.
‘But he was getting bullied. It looks like the pressure is getting to him. So he will have to have an unbelievable pre-season to stay there.’
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