Bruno Fernandes reveals early impressions of Rasmus Hojlund

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Bruno Fernandes reveals early impressions of Rasmus Hojlund

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has said he wants to see Rasmus Hojlund's "happy face" when the 20-year-old striker starts scoring goals for the club.

Lacking a reliable 'number nine', United pursued Hojlund because of his long-term potential over more expensive readymade options and committed to invest up to £72m in the young Dane.

His debut ended up being delayed a few weeks because of a pre-existing injury, but Hojlund impressed off the bench in an otherwise disappointing day for United last time out against Arsenal.

Hojlund, who has drawn early comparisons with Erling Haaland due to his physical frame and Scandinavian heritage but grew up idolising Cristiano Ronaldo, will now hope to go from strength to strength and is already working hard to integrate.

"He is someone who is always trying to speak to everyone, he is really open," Fernandes said in an episode of the club's in-house Player Diaries series.

"From what I've seen, he wants to work and get in the team because he wants to be fit as soon as possible. I think he has a lot of energy, a lot of strength and hopefully a lot of goals too.

"I want to build that connection with him that I have with the other strikers and wingers because I'm here to serve them so I want them to feel happy that they will get their chances. After that, it's about them getting the goals. I want my strikers and wingers to score goals and I want to see their happy faces celebrating in front of the Stretford End."

United have struggled for consistent goals from forwards in recent years. Fernandes got a one-off 28 from midfield in 2020/21, while Cristiano Ronaldo managed 24 in 2021/22 but was then quickly gone, and an equally veteran Zlatan Ibrahimovic got 28 in his only full season. Romelu Lukaku managed 27 only once, Edinson Cavani maxed out at 17 during the 2020/21 campaign and Anthony Martial has gone beyond 20 goals in just one season since he arrived in 2015.

Marcus Rashford has exceeded 20 in three of the last four full seasons but largely stands alone and is the only United player to score at least 20 goals across all competitions in successive campaigns since Cristiano Ronaldo did so in 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2008/09 during his first spell.