Rasmus Højlund: Why Man United were willing to pay €75m for the next Victor Osimhen

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Whether it be Victor Osimhen, Lautaro Martínez or Dusan Vlahovic, there’s little doubt that Serie A has found itself playing host to some of the most exciting strikers in European football. But amongst these impressive household names was a young star at Atalanta who could go on to be even more impressive than all three. And he's now joined Manchester United in a deal worth an initial €75m plus €10m in add-ons, after agreeing a five-year deal with the club, with a further additional year optional. 

Stats

R. Højlund Centre-Forward

Manchester United

Season 23/24–
Premier League

Games

26

Goals

8

Assists

2

Despite only being 20 years of age, Rasmus Højlund undoubtedly made waves in his first season in Italian football, to the extent that the young Dane has already found himself moving to Premier League giants Manchester United. So who is this former Serie A star and why is he already on his way to England before he’s even proven his worth at Atalanta? Let’s take a look.

A slow but steady start in Serie A 

Following an impressive start to his senior career at Copenhagen, which saw the young striker make 32 appearances for the club and bag five goals, Højlund then earned a move to Austrian Bundesliga side Sturm Graz, where he played for less than a year, picking up an impressive 12 goals and four assists in just 21 games. The player’s short stay in Austria was in no small part due to the interest he had already garnered, which culminated in a high-profile move to Atalanta in August of 2022 for no less than €17.2 million. 

After that, Højlund did well to quickly adapt to life in one of Europe’s top leagues and managed to bag nine goals and four assists in 32 league games. Which quickly showed Italian football exactly what he could do. “He has the full package,” notes Jatin Dietl, Area Manager for Italy at Transfermarkt. “He can play in any attacking position, he has good physical strength and speed, but also has great technique and an impressive goal instinct. Maybe he lacks a bit of consistency and certainly he has to grow, but he is only 20 years old and his potential seems to be enormous.”

Atalanta’s talent shop - Højlund is in the right place

Indeed, “potential” seems to be the name of the game for Højlund at the moment and there’s little doubt that at Atalanta the Dane had all the tools and coaching to turn him into Serie A’s next star striker. Under Gian Piero Gasperini the Italian club have become known for their entertaining football, but the club as a whole has also developed into one of the best in the business at buying young players with bags of potential and turning them into the kind of talents that the biggest clubs in Europe are desperate to sign. 

Whether it be Amad Diallo, Alessandro Bastoni, Franck Kessié or Cristian Romero, Atalanta have proved time and time again that they know how to put young players on the right path to stardom. And there’s little doubt that Højlund was considered to be one of the next big names of that conveyor belt of talent. “They have a very good youth system, one of the best in Italy and one of the best scouting set ups in the entire world,” adds Dietl when asked why Atalanta always seem to strike gold with young players. “And most of all they’ve been playing a similar style of football for years now, so their scouts and sports director know exactly what kind of characteristics a player has to have for being able to perform at Bergamo. Also, there is a calm ambience and not a lot of pressure which helps the player to grow and evolve in peace.”