Manchester United continued their Jekyll and Hyde start to the 2023/24 season with yet another defeat in the Premier League.
The 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace leaves the club sitting on just nine points from seven matches and Erik ten Hag will surely be feeling the pressure ahead of the Champions League tie against Galatasaray this week.
It’s safe to say that his summer signings have failed to really hit the ground running and this will need to be remedied if the Red Devils have any aspirations of winning trophies this season.
The likes of Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund have registered just one goal and one assist between them since arriving in the summer and considering the vast financial outlay Ten Hag shelled out to bring them to Manchester, these figures need to be much better.
The Dane in particular, hasn’t quite lived up to expectations and while he certainly has time on his hands, might Ten Hag have signed someone more experienced to spearhead his attack?
How has Rasmus Hojlund performed this season?
The 20-year-old has started three Premier League games so far for the Old Trafford side, yet has averaged a mediocre Sofascore rating of just 6.45, while averaging just 0.5 shots on target per game, created zero big chances while completing just 8.5 passes per game, signifying his lack of impact. Of course, he is still growing into the role but United needed someone ready to make an immediate impact.
Having burst onto the scene last season at Atalanta, scoring ten goals for the Serie A side and emerging as one of the most talented youngsters on the continent, it was clear he would be moving away from the club sooner than expected.
It was evident that United needed a proper number nine, someone who could offer a direct threat through the middle rather than the Dutchman having to rely on wide players such as Marcus Rashford and Antony.
He is still a rough diamond, but if given the opportunity, he could develop into a wonderful striker who may remain at the club for the foreseeable future.
Was the move perhaps too much of a gamble, however? With Ten Hag clearly requiring someone who is already an established member of the game's elite in order to get the club challenging for both domestic and European honours.
One name that was being touted for a move to Manchester was Napoli centre-forward Victor Osimhen and their start to the season may have looked a lot differently had he been the man leading the line rather than Hojlund.
Did Manchester United nearly sign Victor Osimhen?
The Nigerian sensation had a season to remember for the Italian side during 2022/23 as he scored 31 goals across all competitions, leading Napoli to their first league title since the halcyon days of Diego Maradona and co.
Such was his impact, that he even received praise from Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who lauded his impact in their title triumph, saying: "The real deal, or idán gangan as younger folks may describe him; Victor has continued the fine tradition of Nigeria’s footballing excellence on the global stage. We are all proud of him and wish him well in what is already a remarkable career.”
This form naturally led to interest from a variety of clubs across the continent, and it looked as though he was going to leave the club during the summer transfer.
According to Italian news outlet Il Mattino, it was claimed that the Old Trafford outfit held an advantage in the chase for Osimhen as the chase was heating up for the striker.
The report stated that United would have to fork out a massive €160m (£139m) in order to lure the star to the Premier League. Although this was an eyewatering amount, it was claimed that the club were front-runners due to attempting negotiations the year before.
Is Victor Osimhen better than Rasmus Hojlund?
Both players played in Serie A last season and the 24-year-old got the better of the young Danish talent across a wide range of metrics.
Indeed, Osimhen not only scored more league goals (29 to nine) and assists (four to two) but he also registered more shots on target per game (1.7 to 0.9), averaged more key passes per match (1.1 to 0.8) and scored on a more frequent basis (every 99 minutes to every 204 minutes), clearly suggesting he was a far bigger threat in front of goal.
Not only did Osimhen establish himself as one of the best forwards in Italy, but his performances also led to him ranking highly across a range of attacking metrics when compared to positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues.
According to FBref, he sat in the top 1% for none-penalty goals per 90 (0.88), the top 1% for total shots per 90 (4.48) and the top 2% for touches in the attacking penalty area per 90 (7.98), demonstrating how often he looked to get on the score sheet and into key attacking areas during matches.
In comparison, Hojlund failed to rank in the top 30% for both non-penalty goals (0.41) and total shots (2.78) per 90, while ranking in the top 14% for touches in the opposition box per 90 (6.28) when compared to positional peers, and It's clear to see why Osimhen scored far more goals last season.
Ten Hag may have found the Nigerian slightly out of his price range, yet a more concrete move should have been made to bring him to Manchester, especially as he aimed to build upon the steady progress from last term.
Not only does he find the back of the net more often, but the Napoli hitman is generally, a greater threat in the penalty area and there is no doubt he could have made a much bigger impact in a shorter space of time than Hojlund.
As reiterated, the Dane is only a couple of years into his professional career and clearly has enough talent to shine on the biggest stage, but perhaps a move to the Premier League has come too quickly.
His development may have been better aided by remaining in Serie A with Atalanta and building up his confidence.
Ten Hag certainly missed a trick by failing to sign Osimhen and the mistake is becoming even worse following every bad result.
