Hojlund Thrives at Napoli, Outshining United Tenure

Rasmus Hojlund transitioned from Atalanta to Manchester United as the Premier League club sought to address their striker challenges. However, the 22-year-old faced difficulties in finding form and securing playing time under managers Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim, leading to his loan to Napoli for the current season.

Hojlund has made an impressive start in Serie A, netting his fifth and sixth goals of the season as Napoli comfortably defeated Cremonense on Sunday. Remarkably, he has already scored more league goals for Napoli this season than he did during his entire tenure at United, accomplishing this feat in 22 fewer matches.

At present, only Lautaro Martinez and Christian Pulisic have outscored Hojlund in Serie A, with both players achieving eight goals thus far. Following Napoli’s victory in the Supercoppa Italiana, Hojlund expressed his satisfaction with his decision to join the club. He shared a celebratory photo holding the trophy, captioned: “What a great decision looks like.”

Hojlund’s loan agreement includes an option for Napoli to make the move permanent for £38 million next summer, contingent on certain conditions such as the club qualifying for the Champions League. Given his current form, this investment appears promising as the striker continues to flourish under the guidance of coach Antonio Conte.

Christian Vieri, a former Inter Milan star and notable striker, has praised Hojlund, asserting that he is potentially among the top five strikers worldwide. In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Vieri remarked: “I consider Hojlund as potentially one of the five best strikers in the world. He can score goals, but he knows how to attack deep and wear down defenses. He has a strong left foot and is great with his head and his physicality.”

However, Vieri acknowledged the challenge posed by Romelu Lukaku’s eventual return from injury, emphasizing that it will create a dilemma for Conte regarding team selection. He commented: “In short, he has everything. It’s not easy to take his place away from him, but it has to be said that Lukaku knows how to make the rest of his teammates play well as well. They need both, but deciding who plays is up to Conte alone: a great problem to have to solve.”

Lukaku has yet to feature for Napoli this season due to a thigh injury sustained during a pre-season match against Olympiacos in mid-August.

Napoli’s recent 2-0 victory over Cremonense allowed them to cut the gap to league leaders AC Milan, who earlier secured a 3-0 win over Verona, thanks to a goal from Pulisic and a brace from Christopher Nkunku. However, both Napoli and AC Milan could see their standings affected if Inter Milan secures a win against Atalanta later that night, as the title race in Serie A remains fiercely competitive.