Meet Rasmus Hojlund: Manchester United’s £86m striker target runs like a steam train, turned his back on swimming to become a professional footballer and wants to imitate Cristiano Ronaldo’s muscular physique

Powerful, tireless and fast. Rasmus Hojlund is regarded as Serie A’s gold mine, a potentially devastating player who could generate immense wealth for Italian football and Atalanta. 

Only last year, Atalanta decided to buy the Danish striker after watching him play for Sturm Graz for €17m (£14.6m). Today, his value has skyrocketed to €100m (£86m), and Manchester United are targeting him this summer.

Hojlund is considered by Italian fans to be the closest copy of Erling Haaland due to his extraordinary physical strength and speed. 

Last season, Hojlund scored nine goals to help Atalanta back into Europe, and netted six goals in four European qualifiers for Denmark, showing the quality he can bring to any top club.

Playing against runaway Serie A winners Napoli last term, Hojlund reached a top speed of 34.35km an hour. When he gets going, he runs like a steam train and is a frightening opponent for any defence.

Ramus Hojlund is on Man United’s radar, and could move to Old Trafford this summer

Hojlund has been compared to fellow Scandinavian forward Erling Haaland

He is the full package, and it is clear to see why Atalanta are demanding such an astronomical fee in order to allow him to leave. United may only want to spend £60m on Hojlund, but Atalanta are keen for his £86m price-tag to be met or he will stay put.

His departure from Serie A would be even more significant than Edin Dzeko, Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic leaving. That’s how exciting this 20-year-old prospect is. 

Mail Sport’s Alvise Cagnazzo takes a look at five things to know about Hojlund ahead of his potential move to the Premier League. 

1. Hojlund loves local cuisine

After moving to Atalanta in 2022, Hojlund, like all northern Italian men, fell in love with the cuisine. 

In Bergamo, where Atalanta are based, he is always seen in the best restaurants in the city, where he does not accept being served for free but always wants to pay for everything he eats, especially for two typical Bergamo dishes: casoncelli and polenta.

Casoncelli is a stuffed pasta typical of eastern Lombardy, but there are many local variations. In Bergamo it is the most eaten and loved, and Hojlund is so fond of it he takes it with him when he returns to Denmark.

Polenta is an ancient rustic food of Italian origin based on cornmeal or other cereals which guarantees fuel for the muscles and warms the body in the winter.

Hojlund discovered the benefits of polenta after joining Atalanta, and now uses it as a snack after very hard training sessions. 

If he does join United, these Italian treats could follow him to Old Trafford. He has learned to love local cuisine, and perhaps he could become a fan of English delicacies in time.

2. The baby-faced assassin

Hojlund is so young and fresh-faced that during his first training sessions with Atalanta no one knew him and when he wore a bib he looked like one of the young people who attend training sessions for the first team to make up the numbers. 

Since he’s been in Italy, he’s gained muscle mass and demonstrated superior physical skills to anyone his age.

He still looks like a boy facially, though, with fans often referring to him as him ‘Bocia’, a dialectal term meaning ‘young’. 

Yet they are all convinced he can be Christian Vieri’s heir, a striker who took Serie A by storm in the 1990s and 2000s. 

Vieri was powerful and a ruthless finisher, and Hojlund has already shown signs that he can follow in his footsteps. He may look like a boy, but once he steps on that pitch he is a match for any of the top professionals Serie A has to offer.

Hojlund still has a baby face, but when he gets on the pitch he is a force to be reckoned with

3. Hojlund chose football over swimming

Hojlund’s dad Anders recounted his son’s career in sport in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, revealing: ‘My son also practiced tennis, badminton and above all swimming. He was really good at swimming in the pool, so much so that when he had to stop to play football it wasn’t easy because he loved both sports.’

He may have experience with diving into a pool, but when it comes to football Hojlund is a very honest player who never falls to the ground even when taking heavy blows from defenders.

It could be argued that he should be more cunning at times to get the justice he deserves for the knocks he takes every game.

Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini speaks of Hojlund as a ‘rough diamond’ and his reluctance to go down even when he would be well within his rights to do so could change with maturity and experience.

His flaw is his lack of cynicism, but the best swimmers always give their all underwater before raising their heads and observing the end result, and that is how Hojlund plays his football. He expects no favours, and simply chooses to play until the whistle.

Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini considers Hojlund to be a ‘rough diamond’

Hojlund is a very honest player who does not shy away from getting into physical battles

4 – Hojlund is obsessed with his physique like Cristiano Ronaldo

In an interview with Hojlund’s father Anders by Gazzetta dello Sport, it emerged how Hojlund is in love with Cristiano Ronaldo and his great athlete’s physique.

‘One day he took me aside and said he would imitate him in everything. Not just on the pitch,’ Anders said of his son’s desperation to follow Ronaldo’s example.

‘After two days I find him there, on the floor, doing abs and push-ups. Sometimes we told him to let it go, but he didn’t, he continued.’ 

In Bergamo, the most muscular player has always been striker Duvan Zapata, followed by defender Rafael Toloi, but Hojlund can certainly go past them thanks to his extraordinary speed and resistance. 

On the pitch, according to Serie A data, he covers about 9km every 90 minutes, impressive numbers for a striker in the Italian league.

Hojlund admires Cristiano Ronaldo’s physique, and wants to imitate the Portuguese star

5. Hojlund loves the No 17

Hojlund is very superstitious and has always wanted to wear the No 9 shirt. 

However, he has rarely got his wish, and when he arrived at Atalanta, Luis Muriel possessed that number. Hojlund has previously worn the No 28, 45 and then 17, which has become his lucky number.

In Italy, the No 17 was worn by Napoli icon Marek Hansik and David Trezeguet, the man who scored over 150 goals for Juventus. 

Hojlund adores all the great players from yesteryear, and has now made the No 17 his own. 

At United, midfielder Fred currently has that shirt, but he has been linked with a move away this summer. If he leaves and Hojlund joins, it should be an easy decision as to which jersey he will pick. 

Hojlund is very superstitious and has made the No 17 his own in recent years