Harry Maguire has spoken about the belief he has in young Manchester United forward Rasmus Hojlund.
There has been a lot of pressure of the 21-year-old during his first season at Old Trafford, but it has now been revealed that the experienced players in the squad never doubted that goals would come for striker.
Maguire says Hojlund is “going to be a big player” for United for years to come and explains why he backs himself to perform in the heart of Erik ten Hag’s defence following Lisandro Martinez’s latest injury lay-off.
The Denmark international struggled to score goals in the Premier League at the very beginning but, after hitting the back of the net 5 times in as many games, the narrative has changed for the better. He had an impressive scoring tally in the Champions League too, after scoring five goals in the group stages.
Hojlund had to wait until Boxing Day to score his first league goal in a United shirt. Now he can’t stop hitting the back of the next, and long may that continue!
“We always knew that was going to come because he’s an exceptional talent,” Maguire told Sky Sports. “He’s going to be a big player for this club. I’m sure he’ll keep scoring goals and there are many more to come.
“As senior players you see a young player coming through – and he holds himself so well and so mature people don’t realise his age – but he’s come in with a big weight on his shoulders to be the main striker for Man Utd.
“He’s had to play every game because of injuries but you see in training the work he puts in, the talent he has, the physical capability to play in this league, we knew he’d be successful for this club.”
However, Hojlund is not the only young player finding his feet in the first team. The same can be said about Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo.
“It’s really encouraging, the young boys coming through at this club,” Maguire added.
“This club has built a philosophy where young players get chances and if you take your chance you stay in the team and this manager has proved that. Since he’s come in, the young players train with us a lot and when they train well and impress they stay and get more opportunities to impress.
“It doesn’t matter how young you are, if you’re playing well you keep your place.”
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