Man Utd could sign an older version of Hojlund who’s “such a handful”

Prior to the new campaign, Manchester United fans will have been optimistic after a season of success. However, fast-forward to today, and they sit eighth in the Premier League with just 28 points.

The Red Devils have failed to score in their last four matches for the first time since 1992, which highlights the lack of goals as their biggest downfall.

With that in mind, Erik ten Hag will look to address that issue in January by signing a centre forward to support the struggling Rasmus Hojlund, who is yet to score a Premier League goal in 14 matches.

Man Utd transfers latest – Youssef En-Nesyri

According to The Sun, Man United are interested in signing Youssef En-Nesyri from Sevilla in January.

It is believed that the United scouting department has been watching the 26-year-old over the last few matches.

£16m would be enough to secure the services of the Moroccan, who is contracted to the Spanish club until June 2025.

How Youssef En-Nesyri compares to Rasmus Hojlund

The Sevilla focal point has featured 16 times in La Liga this season for his underperforming side, scoring five goals and registering one assist. Even though these statistics aren’t exactly brilliant, he has been living off scraps in almost every game.

According to FBref’s similar players model, the 26-year-old is actually one of the most similar players to the aforementioned Hojlund. Indeed, he has plenty of attributes similar to the young Danish striker, and the table below showcases that via stats from this season’s Champions League.

As you can see by their low pass and touch statistics, they are both strikers who stay on the last line of the defence and rarely get involved in build-up. Neither are technically brilliant, which may be the reason for that, but when facing a low block, it is important that the centre forward can identify spaces in front of the backline to pick up the ball and link up play.

However, both forwards love to stay in between the goal posts and get on the end of crosses. Hojlund prefers the service to be flashed across the box on the floor, whereas En-Nesyri favours crosses with height, as “he’s such a handful in the air” according to football reporter Ryan Taylor. This is where the duo both thrive.

In truth, En-Nesyri is just a worse version of Hojlund, who offers very little other than aerial ability, and with United’s current chance creation crisis, the Moroccan would simply be ineffective as he ranks in the bottom 1 percentile of strikers for progressive passes received, passes completed, touches, shot-creating actions, and successful take-on percentage across Europe’s top five leagues.

Overall, it is clear that En-Nesyri wouldn’t offer much more than what Hojlund currently does, other than a rotation option and an aerial threat. Moving for the Sevilla man seems like a decision based on who United can get rather than what they actually need.

A different style of centre forward who can offer contrasting attributes to the ex-Atalanta player would make much more sense, as it would provide Ten Hag with alternative attacking patterns and a plan B.