Harry Kane might well be Erik ten Hag’s number one summer transfer target but the Manchester United manager knows he will need fallback options.
He had only need cast his eye back a few years to see how rivals Manchester City were left pained by the England captain’s Tottenham contract renewal after a summer-stretched chase. If Antonio Conte got one thing right at Spurs it was his assessment of Kane - his love for the club runs deep.
It means, despite being trophyless at age 29, the club-and-country all-time top scorer is not a dead cert for a transfer, even though he still does not know who his next Spurs boss will be. United will need to play their cards right and not get dragged into another fruitless pursuit as they did with Frenkie de Jong.
READ MORE: United keeping tabs on Hojlund
By which time, fellow consideration Victor Osimhen could have sealed a move elsewhere, while there is no guarantee that shortlisted Mohammed Kudus and Goncalo Ramos will still be available.
The Manchester Evening News understands that Ten Hag is keeping tabs on both Frankfurt striker Randal Kolo Muani and Rasmus Højlund of Atalanta. The latter has 14 goals this season, six of which came with previous employers Sturm Graz.
He also has five goals in four Denmark caps, scoring a hat-trick against Finland before grabbing both goals in his country’s shock 3-2 defeat to Kazakhstan in their Euro 2024 qualifiers this international break.
Being a tall, blonde-haired Scandinavian, comparisons with Erling Haaland have already been made. But there is a key difference between Hojlund and boyhood City fan Haaland that makes him a solid fallback option.
"Now that you ask, I will not hide the fact that I am a huge Manchester United fan," he recently revealed. "So personally, it would be one of the biggest things for me, but of course that doesn’t mean that I would turn down other big clubs if the offers come at some point."
This love for United may have been birthed by his father, Anders - a former professional footballer - who first presented Cristiano Ronaldo to him while he was playing at Old Trafford during his first stint.
"My father introduced me when he was at United then me and my best friend followed him when he was at Madrid,” he told TLN earlier this month.
“I just like his mentality, I love that he’s so eager to score a goal, the thing for me is he is so passionate about wanting to be the best and I like it.”
His description of why he admires Ronaldo tells a story in itself. Ten Hag has underlined his favouritism for players who strive for excellence at all times. Speaking last summer, he said: “I look to the player and I have a certain demand.
“And I will tell them if they have capabilities, but you have to invest…. it is for every player. I will tell every player what I expect of them.
“I have high standards because you are here, you are playing for Manchester United, then you must bring every day on the pitch. That is an expectation I have."
The United boss has also regularly insisted that he doesn’t jump for any player for the sake of it and will not merely “burn money”. His targets are carefully picked. Hojlund is not his top target right now but could be if the summer does not go according to plan.
Hojlund will not be first-choice and he won't be the answer to United’s problems but his mindset will be appealing to Ten Hag and as fallback options go, he would make a tidy addition to a growing squad in need of varied attacking options.
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