{"id":173478,"date":"2025-06-10T17:21:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T17:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/173478\/"},"modified":"2025-06-10T17:21:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T17:21:18","slug":"manchester-united-cant-ignore-roy-keane-in-the-summer-transfer-window-he-is-not-good-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/173478\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester United can&#8217;t ignore Roy Keane in the summer transfer window &#8211; &#8216;He is not good enough&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Man United desperately need to sign a striker this summer and they can&#8217;t afford to get it wrong.<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_Screenshot-2025-06-10-at-135743.png\" alt=\"Roy Keane speaks on Sky Sports.\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Roy Keane has outlined his concerns about Rasmus Hojlund.(Image: Sky Sports.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">When Manchester United swooped for Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta in August 2023, it goes without saying that they paid over the odds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">In his first and only season at the Italian club, the Dane scored ten goals in 34 appearances across all competitions. It was a respectable return, but it was by no means eye-catching.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">However, <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/manchester-united-fc\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"UnitedLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">United<\/a> made the decision to pay \u00a364million for his signature. The package could still rise to \u00a372m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">United, who had been interested in Harry Kane earlier in the window, were in desperate need of a striker and their search eventually led them to Hojlund. However, they bought potential rather than a finished product.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">He arrived at <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/old-trafford\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Old TraffordLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Old Trafford<\/a> as an incredibly raw 20-year-old who suddenly had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He had been brought in to strengthen an attack that had been too reliant on <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/marcus-rashford\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Marcus RashfordLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcus Rashford<\/a> in the 2022\/23 campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">In truth, the jump from being a starting striker at Atalanta to being a starting striker at United was just too big for the Dane at such a young age. With the exception of the injury-prone Anthony Martial, Hojlund did not have anyone he could lean on for guidance or support.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Despite that, he plundered a respectable 16 goals in his maiden season in England, and there was hope he would build on that tally in 2024\/25. However, his performances regressed and he scored just ten goals, of which only four were netted in the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/premier-league\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Premier LeagueLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Premier League<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">It further highlighted the feeling that <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/rasmus-hojlund\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"HojlundLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Hojlund<\/a> should have been signed to perform the role of United&#8217;s secondary striker. Martial&#8217;s injury record meant the Denmark international immediately had to step up and shoulder United&#8217;s goalscoring burden.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;Hojlund, in his defence, I think should have been a back-up striker,&#8221; former United captain Roy Keane told Sky Sports last month. &#8220;Third or fourth choice, and learn his trade off some brilliant strikers.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_GettyImages-2216335287.jpg\" alt=\"Rasmus Hojlund cuts a frustrated figure following the Europa League final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Rasmus Hojlund struggled in his second season at Old Trafford.(Image: Ion Alcoba Beitia\/Getty Images.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;He is not good enough. He is lacking in confidence and belief and he is not surrounded by brilliance either.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;If people think they can fix that in one summer, it is not going to happen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Since making that admission after United were beaten 1-0 by <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/chelsea-fc\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"ChelseaLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Chelsea<\/a> at Stamford Bridge almost four weeks ago, United have learnt of <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/sport\/football\/transfer-news\/manchester-united-forward-wanted-serie-31782509\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"interest from Inter Milan in Hojlund&#039;s signatureLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">interest from Inter Milan in Hojlund&#8217;s signature<\/a>. United are prepared to sell any player this summer and the striker is one of the more likely candidates to be moved on to raise funds for new additions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Whether Hojlund stays or goes, United desperately want to recruit a new No.9 this summer. Despite originally targeting Liam Delap, there is a need for them to recruit someone who is an established goalscorer and ready to hit the ground running.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Much of the current speculation centres around Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting Lisbon and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen. Both are proven goalscorers who have hit brilliant numbers in recent seasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">It is a striker of that ilk that United need to be signing this summer, as opposed to another striker in the bracket of Hojlund, who was recruited based on potential.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Keane was right that Hojlund should have been signed to provide competition and not be the frontman of United&#8217;s attack. This summer it feels almost inevitable that United will go down the right route when trying to bring in a No.9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Man United desperately need to sign a striker this summer and they can&#8217;t afford to get it wrong.Roy&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,423,9060,10384,1677,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-173478","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-manchester-united-fc","13":"tag-manchester-united-transfer-news","14":"tag-rasmus-hojlund","15":"tag-roy-keane","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114660226234936366","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}