Man Utd dealt Rasmus Hojlund transfer blow as £40m striker deal falls through

Italian giants Atalanta are closing in on a deal for Lecce striker Nikola Krstovic after a £40million deal for Rodrigo Muniz fell through. Fulham have been resolute in saying they must bring in a replacement before allowing Muniz to leave and talks have now collapsed.

The news comes as a blow to Manchester United as Fulham were considering a move for out-of-favour striker Rasmus Hojlund as a potential replacement for Muniz. Hojlund will be allowed to leave Old Trafford after the Red Devils spent £200m on a new forward line this summer of Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.

Hojlund was left out of the squad for United's opening game of the season against Arsenal on Sunday, with Cunha starting up front and Sesko and Joshua Zirkzee making the bench. When asked about Hojlund's absence, Ruben Amorim said: "It is going to be like this during the season.

"We have more options, we have to choose the right players for each game. Sometimes, it's not just thinking about 11 guys that start the game and imagine how we are going to finish the game and win the game.

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"They are in moments of a few training sessions for Josh and, with Sesko, he changed his life in one week. We tried to choose the best team to start and then, during the game, we will see."

AC Milan, though, are looking to sign a new striker this summer and sporting director Igli Tare has confirmed the club are interested in Hojlund. Speaking to Sport Mediaset, Tare said: "Hojlund is a good option for us.

"We are evaluating him these days, but the transfer market is unpredictable. We know that we have to intervene in that position and we also know that they must be players who can give something more to this group."

Hojlund joined United from Atalanta for a fee of around £72m back in 2023, but he has struggled to make much of an impact after managing just 26 goals in 95 appearances across all competitions.

However, when asked about his future earlier this summer, Hojlund said: "I think the most important thing for me is just to keep working hard and stay focused and then obviously we'll see what happens.

"I think my plan is very clear and that is for me to stay and fight for my spot, whatever happens. I'm still very young. I think people forget that sometimes. I'm only 22. Obviously, not every striker is scoring 100 goals at the age of 22 (like Erling Haaland ).

"But I've learned a lot, I think you can see in my game. I'm starting to develop and become even better in the basics. Now it's just about for me to sharpen myself and I've done very well in the pre-season so far. Just focusing on continuing that.

"Competition is fine with me. It sharpens me. I'm more than ready. I'm feeling sharp, so I'm welcoming everything that comes. I think it's good with competition and it only sharpens the team."

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