Man Utd told to sign another Van Persie to solve ‘issue’ for struggling star

Manchester United should sign an experienced striker like Robin van Persie to “take the burden off” Rasmus Hojlund, according to Andy Cole.

Hojlund has impressed in the Champions League for the Red Devils following his £64m summer move from Atalanta, scoring five goals in five games, but is yet to get off the mark in the Premier League.

Erik ten Hag has great faith in the 20-year-old, but Cole reckons his former club need to sign someone for the striker to “learn from” at Old Trafford, as was the case when he joined the club from Newcastle in 1995.

He said: “I think an issue for Hojlund is he hasn’t got anyone at Man Utd to learn from and improve his game. When I joined Man Utd I had the likes of Hughes and Cantona to learn from. Then as I settled into the team, I could still improve my game playing with the likes of Solskjaer, Sheringham, and Yorke.

“So, there was always the opportunity to learn, but Hojlund hasn’t got that experience around him and the burden falls completely on him. He works so hard on the pitch and he’s young and keen to impress. It’s a lot of pressure to put on someone so young.”

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United have been linked with both Antoine Griezmann and Thomas Muller in recent weeks, and Cole believes a player of their calibre should be signed in the coming window to ease the “burden” on Hojlund and aid the young striker’s development.

“Man Utd need to bring in a forward that’s played at a high level for many years as they’re simply not scoring enough goals,” he added. “That will take a lot of the burden off of Hojlund and also give him someone to learn from. However, the last player Man Utd had of the calibre was Van Persie. Man Utd has always been a high scoring team and they’re not hitting the numbers they need to.”

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