‘We all suffered’: Man Utd’s summer departure reflects on ‘difficult’ Old Trafford struggles

Rasmus Hojlund has reflected on his three-year tenure at Manchester United, which officially came to an end this summer.

Once Napoli, whom he’d spent 2025/2026 on loan with, secured their qualification for the Champions League, it automatically triggered his permanent £38 million buy option.

How Hojlund’s exit materialised

It meant that Hojlund bid farewell to United after playing only two seasons at Old Trafford, which was enough for club chiefs to decide he wasn’t the right fit.

He was shipped out on loan at the beginning of last term, with United already having a direct replacement in the team in the form of Benjamin Sesko, who arrived in a £73m deal from RB Leipzig in August 2025.

Sesko’s switch set in stone that Hojlund had been demoted to a squad player, which would’ve seen his minutes heavily reduced throughout the campaign – especially because United had no form of European football to account for.

How did Hojlund fare for United?

The Danish international was made to wait to open his account for United, as he netted his first goal in his 15th Premier League appearance.

He did go on to oversee an impressive run by scoring seven goals in six consecutive top-flight matches, becoming the youngest-ever player to do so, but saw his record come to an end when he was hit with an untimely injury setback.

Hojlund ended 2023/2024 with 10 league goals to his name and two assists in 30 appearances, which isn’t bad going for a young forward navigating their first season in England.

However, when fans anticipated he would kick on and build on his first year in 2024/2025, they were left hugely disappointed after he returned only four goals and an assist in 32 games.

It was then that United decided to scour the market for a replacement, spelling the end of Hojlund’s Red Devils stint.

Hojlund’s complete record in all competitions for MUFC

What Hojlund had to say about Old Trafford struggles

Now plying his trade over in Naples, the 23-year-old has opened up on his United struggles, saying (as cited by La Gazzetta dello Sport): “I don’t think anything specific went wrong. I arrived at a club with a manager (Erik ten Hag). It was a difficult year with a lot of injuries, but we won the FA Cup, and I was the top scorer.

“Then we went through a difficult period and [Ruben] Amorim arrived, an excellent coach but with a different style of play. The team had to adapt, and it was complicated. We all suffered.

“My first year was a success. The second was not. But I played in the Europa League final. If we had won, it would have been a different story. That’s football. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it goes badly, but I’m very happy to have played for the club I dreamed of as a child.”