Dwight Yorke: I'd Take Darwin Nunez Over Hojlund Any Day of the Week

Man United’s 21-year-old big-money signing is missing an x-factor according to a former star striker at the club.

Dwight Yorke has expressed his doubts over the young Dane’s chances of making the leap from the 15 goals he scored this season to being a striker who scores 20+ goals a season.

Yorke also made a bold call on which Premier League striker he would prefer to have over Hojlund, what he is expecting from new big money signing Leny Yoro and more opinion on the latest happenings at Old Trafford.

Rasmus Hojlund Is Missing X-Factor – He Won’t Be a 20-Goal Striker

I agree with Michael Owen, I think it’s going to be very difficult for Hojlund to be a 20-goal-a-season striker from what I’ve seen.

He's still young but even watching him at Euro 2024, he's lacking something. I'm not quite sure what it is. He's not got that X factor that you look for in strikers.

I think he's a good player. I think that's the category I would put him in as he's still very developing and there is huge hope for the kid and I wish him the best but I’m not seeing it just yet.

I hope he surprises me but I have my doubts about it. I just think that is he going to be Manchester United's saviour? The answer is no.

I think he will continue to have fun, like he did this season, but don't think he will make a massive difference in terms of what United expected to be for that type of money.

I’d Swap Rasmus Hojlund for Darwin Nunez Any Day of the Week

If I could, I’d swap Rasmus Hojlund for Darwin Nunez because he has more in his locker. He has pace, he has power, he can head the ball, he has the presence - he just needs to improve his finishing and he’d be the best striker in the league.

We need to wait and see if he can do that, but as a manager I’d choose Nunez over Hojlund any day of the week.

Erik Ten Hag Needs to Build on Shock FA Cup Triumph

The first thing Erik ten Hag needs to do is build on winning the FA Cup last season. It was a surprise to all of us that he actually managed to navigate his way to winning it.

But the reality, if you look a little bit deeper into the season - United didn’t qualify for the Champions League after being knocked out of a group stage that they should have qualified from relatively easily.

It was also the worst possible finish in the Premier League, a deficit of goals, most goals conceded. So there's quite a lot in there when you look at it.

Of course he's brought in one and two decent players which should improve the team a little bit, but the fact is that it’s going to be tough for these guys coming into a team that has really struggled last season.

To try and turn that around would be a big ask and the expectation at our football club will only continue to rise.

A couple of players are coming in that have never had the opportunity to play in the Premier League. So that's a new challenge for some of them. We've seen the struggle for one or two players who have never been there and joined Manchester United.

The expectation of joining such a football club is never easy. So there's a lot going on their shoulders.

Ideally, United would bring in one or two more players that will really improve the style and the identity of play.

The two goals are building on the FA Cup win and making sure they get back into the Champions League.

Man United Are Asking Too Much of Leny Yoro

Manchester United are bringing in Leny Yoro and asking an 18-year-old to come in at such a difficult time and asking them to help raise your own level. The Premier League is the toughest place to sort of apply your trade for the first time.

Then you've got Joshua Zirkzee who seems to have had a decent season with Bologna and could make an impact, but you have to ask why he is not a starter for Holland?

That’s a red flag for me when you come in at the United for that sort of fee. In recent years the club have brought in middle of the road players rather than the creme de la creme players that they should be getting.

United should be signing the very best players in Holland and the best players in whatever national team they are playing for, United are not in the position to do that anymore and it worries me.

I'm not saying the kid is not a good player. I'm not saying that he definitely can’t go and light up the Premier League, but why is he not playing in the Holland first team?

Is he great for Bologna but he's not good for the Holland national team? Does that mean he can't be that great for United?

But we can only judge him on that at the end of the season.

Mason Mount Needs To Step Up

For Mason Mount, it has to have been the worst season of his career and now he needs to take responsibility and turn things around.

After leaving Chelsea to join United, you want to make your mark and prove yourself to a lot of people.

He's missed out on Euro 2024 and sometimes you just have to go back to the drawing board and I'm sure he would have taken stock and been getting himself healthy.

I think that's the most important thing to get back into the game. But also, he is a talented boy and hasn’t been utilised in the right position, in the attacking half of the pitch.

United seem to get him running back a lot and playing in positions in areas that he's not supposed to be.

I think that's taking away the actual attacking threat that he brings to the team.

But I think this will be a huge season for him in a crucial time of his career. He needs to really come up with a big season for United and providing that he's healthy and that he’s over his injuries. I think he can be a significant and important player for United this season.

The Possible Consequences of a Jadon Sancho Return

It’s a really bizarre scenario there with Jadon Sancho and one I don't think either party expected to be in.

Ten Hag wasn't meant to win the FA Cup, but he did. Jadon Sancho wouldn’t have expected Ten Hag to win, which would’ve led to the manager being sacked and his return.

But Sancho has got three more years on his contract and he's one of the highest paid players. There's only very few clubs around the world that will be able to afford his salary, so he's not going anywhere so that's caused a little bit of a dilemma.

How do you settle this? You have a man to man conversation and try to settle the whole disagreement. The problem is, if they don’t get off to a good start and they’re losing football matches. I think fingers will start to be pointed at each other again.

It’s a situation to watch and it’s all well and good trying to make up but if things go belly up then these things can blow up in the face of the manager.

Something Doesn’t Feel Right About Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s Return To Old Trafford

It’s obvious to everyone what Manchester United would do if they sacked Erik ten Hag and that’s to appoint Ruud van Nistelrooy.

It’s really not an ideal situation, if you are the manager.  I know Ruud personally and he’s a great guy, he's got his own ambitions, he's obviously set that out in the past.

I can only speak for myself, I don't really like it when you're going into a job knowing that if things don't go well enough for your boss then you can step into that position.

Something is not quite right about that, in my opinion, because although he's very professional, I'm sure he'll go in there and do all his due diligence for the manager and work under the manager’s regime - but I don’t like the bigger picture.

I’ve got to be honest. I'd rather sit on the side and be clear in my intention of being a full-time manager.

I just think the environment is not quite right, even though you're pushing for the team to win and I'm sure that's the case with Ruud, but if that doesn't go well, then there is only one person who's going to take the blame and be sacked.

That is unless Ruud decides to leave if Ten Hag goes, but personally I wouldn’t like to be in his position.

I've seen it with Roy Keane, under Paul Lambert, under the likes of Martin O 'Neill as well, it wasn’t for Roy Keane to be a number two.

And I like to think Ruud is similar in that sense, having said that it's such a great opportunity to be at United as it's not easy to turn your back on in any role.

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