Time Must Be Afforded to Rasmus Højlund
It didn't take long after Manchester United's signing of Danish marksman Rasmus Højlund for the mainstream media in the United Kingdom to plaster his face alongside Erling Haaland's on a number of different graphics juxtaposing the players.
Outwardly, this may have appeared to be a playful, light-hearted means of comparison between two Scandinavian strikers whose last names happen to be rather similar. However in reality, when one realizes that those intricate details are about the extent of their likeness and comparability, it might bring forth a more cynical conclusion that such comparisons to the man coming off a record-breaking Premier League campaign are really just setting Rasmus up to fail.
Nine goals and four assists in 20 Serie A starts versus 36 goals and eight assists in 33 Premier League starts. Age 20 versus age 23 - a significant gap in development, physical standing, and just about any other aspect one can think of in regard to the growth of a footballer. Manchester City's main man versus the new kid on the block at Atalanta. Haaland and Højlund are in entirely different stratospheres and no amount of lazy, narrative-driven rubbish produced by the media should be enough to convince people otherwise. Even if we must reluctantly throw a comparison to the Norwegian striker, Rasmus is at a stage in his career much closer in likeness to Haaland's move from RB Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund.
"But the price tag."
Ah, Manchester United's abysmal transfer team doing themselves yet another favor by sticking another staggeringly high valuation onto another new signing's head. How could one forget?
Is it Rasmus' fault, though? When he was on his holidays enjoying himself this summer, did he decide that his new Mancunian club would pay a sickening 8 million pounds per league goal he scored for Atalanta in order to obtain his services? Or did Manchester United get taken to school by their Italian business partner and end up overpaying? I almost laugh as I pose the question. We are talking about the same masterminds who were pictured in Barcelona last summer getting the Frenkie de Jong deal over the line - any breakthrough yet lads?
But again, this is at no fault of the player's, and it therefore should have no bearing on how the start of his English career is taken to by fans, both of United and of rival clubs alike.
While it's nice to envision, it is also rather unlikely that Højlund comes sprinting out the gates in his new colors; ripping through Premier League defenses and scoring goals for fun. And that is perfectly fine. Just because Rasmus' value has ballooned from under two million euros less than two years ago to a considerable 83 million euros as we speak, there is no footballer whose progression as a player can be, in analogical fashion, equally as rapid.
Newsflash, John Murtough: If you wanted guaranteed instant impact out of your striker singing, too late. He plays for Bayern Munich now. You're let off the hook over the other finished article, though. If it was going to take over 150 million pounds to pry Osimhen from Napoli this summer, the Glazers could probably be heard laughing all the way from Florida. No chance. Even a Qatari ownership group might at least break a small sweat at such a fee.
Is there any conceivable chance that Højlund will score 30 league goals this season? No, there simply isn't.
Is there a reasonable chance that Rasmus versus Erling will be a spirited battle for the Golden Boot in 2026? Yes, yes there is.
Funnily enough, there's a higher chance of Florentino Pérez getting in the way of such an outcome than there is of Højlund not living up to the billing. At least that's what the mainstream graphics will tell you.