Hojlund's back injury more serious than it was thought
Reading Time: 2min | Tue. 08.08.23. | 22:25
Manchester United spent a huge amount of money for the striker, but he won't be available
After weeks of frustrations, ongoing negotiations, stalling and in the end paying 72 million pounds for the potentially new Haaland, Manchester United still cannot use their new striker. Rasmus Hojlund was introduced to the Old Trafford crowd before the Lens pre-season game, but little did the Red Devils knew that they won’t see their new boy on action due to an injury.
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Atalanta was a tough negotiator, as they knew that Manchester was desperate for a striker, and Harry Kane was out of the picture, so they negotiated a large sum for their Danish wonderkid, but at the medical, it has been revealed that Hojlund has a back issue. Nothing serious, since the player signed after the medical was concluded, but as Daily Mail exclusively reveals, MRI scan conducted revealed a stress response hotspot in his back, which can be the start of stress fractures in young players.
For starters, he will miss the opening games against Wolverhampton and Tottenham as the club and coach Erik Ten Hag don’t want to risk anything and are ready to wait for the player until he regains full fitness. The closest example to follow is Marcus Rashford who missed several months of the 2019-20 season after sustaining a double stress fracture in his back. Luckily, Hojlund is not believed to be in that stage (yet), but he is to be closely monitored in the future, in order to avoid Rashford’s situation. But here is the tricky part: other experts, who were contacted by Daily Mail are saying that such injuries require careful management and have suggested it is unlikely that Hojlund will be able to play two matches-a-week for some time for fear of developing into a stress fracture, which would lead to a lengthy lay-off. It basically means that Ten Hag won’t have his star signing in full capacity for some time, and the Red Devils are fighting on all four fronts this season. As it stands, three days before the Premier League starts, United has no classic number 9, only Rashford, while winger Jadon Sancho has been used as a striker in a few friendly games.
