Manchester United tried and failed to sign Harry Kane last summer, Erik ten Hag has revealed.
The Red Devils were in for a new striker last summer and would end up signing Rasmus Hojlund in a £72million deal from Atalanta, but the Dane was their second choice behind the England skipper.
Kane was in the final year of his Tottenham contract last summer, but would go on to sign for Bayern Munich in a £86million deal. He has gone on to score 43 goals for the German side this season, although the club saw a streak of 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles snapped by Bayer Leverkusen.
Hojlund has netted eight goals in his 26 Premier League appearances, but Ten Hag was quick to stress that the 21-year-old should not be compared to Kane at this stage of his career.
“We have had some choices made with talents like Rasmus Hojlund,” Ten Hag said in an interview with Gary Neville for Sky Sports. “I can see a striker who already proved it, who we want to sign and we couldn’t get him. And then we went to Rasmus because he’s a talent.”
Asked by Neville if he was referring to Kane, the Dutchman said: “Yes, and you know Harry Kane will get you 30 goals.
“I think Rasmus will get there, but he needs time. It’s not fair to assess him the same as Harry Kane. I would never compare two players because they are very different.
“But with Hojlund, I think we had the biggest potential in the striker position last summer and we are very happy with him. But he also needs time to adapt and we are very pleased he showed his assets in scoring goals.
“He had a very good period where he scored many games after he showed it, but before and after, he had some physical issues, which is normal for a young player coming up. But it has a negative impact on the team result and that’s what you have to accept.”
Ten Hag also gave some insight into the type of players that Manchester United will look to target this summer.
“That can only be outstanding players,” he said. “That's players who have all the skillset, that is the physical and especially the mental skillset they need to perform and contribute because we have to win every game.
“There's an expectation around every game from us so you can only fulfil that expectation when you have those outstanding players.
“But in the last decade and in this period, we couldn't always get the players we wanted. But then you have to build and you have to accept that you get talent in instead of players who already proved it in the past.”
The Red Devils sit sixth in the Premier League table with games remaining and are out of the running for a Champions League place, but do have the chance of silverware when they face rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final later this month.
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