Following Rasmus Hojlund’s injury, Erik Ten Hag has justified Manchester United’s choice to hold off on adding depth up front in January.
Even if Ten Hag believes the hot Dane won’t be gone for more than a few weeks, United still lacks a centre forward.
The Red Devils were already without a senior striker who could play every day because Anthony Martial was injured.
Ten Hag, however, has defended the team’s lack of transfer action in that area during the previous month, even if he did admit that they did consider adding a center-forward. Prior to his team’s matchup at home against Fulham, the Dutchman addressed reporters as follows:
“First of all, especially at our level, striker choices are the hardest to fill. Martial accomplished a lot for us the previous season. Anthony Martial was our striker last year, and we produced some of our best football. You strike him out when you bring another one in since he is also paid well in this club.
“Strikers aren’t inexpensive. We believed we had choices. I intended to bring in a striker in the winter after [Martial’s injury], but it was not feasible. Similar to those were the issues we had encountered with FFP during the summer. There was a genuine lack of excellent options. For this reason, we were thrilled to acquire Rasmus Hojlund, a Manchester United-caliber player.”
Hojlund is expected to miss United’s FA Cup fifth round match against Nottingham Forest, their derby against Manchester City and their Premier League matchup at home against Everton in addition to the Fulham visit.
Hojlund, who turned 21 earlier this month, was a sluggish starter at Old Trafford after being signed from Atalanta for £72 million last summer. However, he eventually opened his league account against Aston Villa on Boxing Day, and he has since scored eight goals in eight games.