"You know Harry Kane will get you 30 goals," Erik ten Hag on missing out on Englishman last summer

Man United went on to sign Rasmus Hojlund in the summer

Harry Kane was reportedly courted by Manchester United last summer, according to Erik ten Hag.

Ten Hag was interested in signing Kane, who scored a career-high 30 goals in the Premier League for Tottenham the previous season since United was looking to add a new centre-forward before the season began. Nevertheless, the captain of England later signed a contract worth approximately £86.4 million to join Bayern Munich.

Instead, Rasmus Hojlund, a Denmark international who has scored 14 goals in 38 games since joining the Red Devils, was signed by Atalanta.

When Hojlund, 21, joined United for £64 million plus add-ons, there were concerns, but he has demonstrated the ability to develop into a top-tier attacker.

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“We have had some choices made with talents like Rasmus Hojlund,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports. “I can see a striker who already proved it, who we wanted to sign and we couldn’t get him. And then we went to Rasmus because he’s a talent.”

When asked if he meant Kane, Ten Hag continued: “Yes, and you know Harry Kane will get you 30 goals. I think Rasmus will get there, but he needs time. 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 Hojlund, I think we had the biggest potential in the striker position last summer and we are very happy with him. But he also needs time to adapt and we are very pleased he showed his assets in scoring goals.

“He had a very good period where he scored many games after he showed it, but before and after, he had some physical issues, which is normal for a young player coming up. But it has a negative impact on the team result and that’s what you have to accept.”

Ten Hag also appeared to aim a thinly-veiled dig at fans over the criticism of his players. He added: “Then you go back to the fans and the opinion makers, and they don’t understand or they don’t want to understand this. It is how Man United gets judged, they only see the result, but we need time.

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