Manchester United have continued their heavy spending this summer, agreeing a fee worth up to €85million to sign striker Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta.
The Danish forward is an exciting prospect, one that has the potential to develop into a top class operator further down the line. He possesses plenty of the traits that top clubs covet in a modern no. 9, with the Premier League club clearly confident in his abilities after agreeing to fork out such an astronomical amount of money.
In saying that, there is plenty of risk associated with this move.
Hojlund is still very inexperienced in top level football, having only joined Atalanta in the summer of 2022. Prior to that, he had only two seasons of first team football under his belt at Copenhagen and then Strum Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga. In fact, the player has played a grand total of 69 league games in his career.
As well as that, while he still has a huge amount of room to improve, the player managed a fairly unspectacular nine league goals in Serie A last season.
None of this is to say that he will not turn into a top class striker in the years ahead, but the fee Manchester United have agreed to pay has raised some eyebrows.
Fans ask Evan Ferguson question after Manchester United deal
With the current state of the transfer market, the amount of money a player of the quality of Rasmus Hojlund can recoup has led to some interesting questions around some other rising stars in the game.
From an Irish perspective, Evan Ferguson is someone that falls into that bracket.
The 18-year old has already shown during his brief career that he has the ability to become a world class player in the years ahead, massively impressing during his first team in senior football with Brighton.
In fact, you could argue that he is a more valuable asset than Hojlund considering his age and success in the Premier League.
If the Dane can fetch a fee of €85million, how much could we see Ferguson move for in the years ahead? Quite a few football fans believe it will be a price tag that will easily eclipse what Atalanta managed to secure for their prized asset.
The fee Brighton will demand will send shockwaves throughout the sport https://t.co/3aNYnoUxiW
— Tomás🐝 (@SoundIife) July 29, 2023
Pretty damn sure if Ferguson hit near 10 in the EPL next season, Brighton would be asking for more than Hojlund. And rightly so.
— AI (@nonewthing) July 29, 2023
Ferguson as an 18 year old had two less league goals in EPL than Hojlund in the league Lukaku bagged 35 G/A https://t.co/NOczxlojjz
— We might not be finished (@EM_LFC_) July 29, 2023
Not to be pessimistic but spending €70 mill on Hojlund when you could’ve got Evan Ferguson for a similar price is madness to me, don’t know much about Hojlund and I could be bias but I would’ve went for Evan every day of the week
— Jay Hannigan (@jayhannigan7) July 30, 2023
I like hojlund, but why the fuck r we not all over evan Ferguson?
— truther (@OnanaStan) July 28, 2023
Man utd can do a lot better by signing ferguson than hojlund. For 85 mil kind of overpriced right there.
He will improve the team but with ferguson they could do maybe 2-3x better. Ferguson is the new harry kane— yeeett🇲🇾🇵🇸 (@_rams22) July 30, 2023
With Rasmus Højlund going to Manchester United for €70m, makes you wonder how much Evan Ferguson would cost…
🇮🇪👀 pic.twitter.com/sffyA7hrba— IrishPropaganda🇮🇪⚽️ (@IrishPropaganda) July 30, 2023
More on this, do understand that as of now, Evan Ferguson is top of the list of Arsenals number 9 targets for next summer ✅
Club have been majorly impressed with him and will continue scouting him next season 🤝
Would likely cost around £100m next summer, potentially more 💰 https://t.co/EuqOzlTt6l— Dobbo (@Dobbo0107) July 30, 2023
If Evan Ferguson continues on his current trajectory, it is not farfetched to suggest he could become a £100million player in the years ahead. This pending Manchester United deal only further proves that.
Brighton have shown that they will only allow their best assets to leave if their asking price is met and they will not sell the Irishman on the cheap.
For now, he will concentrate on continuing to improve at both club and international level. The thought of what he could become in the coming years is certainly an exciting one for Ireland fans.
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