Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has admitted he wanted to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer transfer window, as the Englishman guarantees 30 goals per season.
Manchester United lost Cristiano Ronaldo in November 2022, which left a gaping hole at the top of the attack. Marcus Rashford did his best to plug it, but the club hit the market looking for a prolific center-forward ahead of the 2023-24 season. Then-Tottenham ace Kane emerged as their top priority, but the Lilywhites were not keen on selling their talisman to a local rival. It allowed Bayern Munich to swoop him and prize him away to Germany.
After missing out on Kane, Manchester United signed Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta, paying a hefty €73.9 million ($79.4 million) fee for his services. Hojlund has only impressed in bits and pieces so far, bagging 14 goals in 38 goals in all competitions.
Erik ten Hag Admits Harry Kane Was Manchester United’s Priority, But Has Full Faith In Rasmus Hojlund
Speaking to Gary Neville, Ten Hag confessed Manchester United initially wanted to sign Kane, but immediately iterated his trust in 21-year-old center-forward Hojlund.
The Dutch manager said (via Irish Independent):
“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.
“Then you have to build and you have to accept that you get talent in instead of players who have already proved it in the past. We have had some choices made with talents like Rasmus Hojlund.”
He added:
“I can see a striker (Harry Kane) 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.
“With Harry Kane you know you get 30 goals. I think Rasmus will get there but he needs time.”
Ten Hag then insisted that it was unfair to compare Hojlund to Kane, as the former still had plenty to learn.
The manager concluded by adding:
“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 Rasmus Hojlund, we get the highest potential in the striker position last summer. We are very happy with him, but he also needs time to adapt. We are very pleased he has showed his capacity to score goals.”
Kane, 30, has emerged as the most prolific forward in Europe this season, bagging 43 goals in as many matches across competitions. With 35 Bundesliga goals and 70 points to his name, he also leads the European Golden Shoe race.
