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The arrival of Benjamin Sesko at Manchester United spelled the end of Rasmus Hojlund’s time at Old Trafford, as much as the player himself didn’t want it to.
The Dane has not even made the bench for either of United’s Premier League clashes so far this season, although he has been pictured in the stands as he continues to support the team.
Nevertheless, Hojlund is closing on a move to Serie A champions Napoli, who are scrambling for forward reinforcements after injury to Romelu Lukaku.
Napoli won the race
The Red Devils signed Hojlund from Atalanta when he was a relative unknown, but one making waves in the Italian top flight.
In a dismal second season with United he showed himself either not good enough or not ready for the Premier League, but when it became apparent the club were ready to move him on there was no lack of interest from Italy.
A return to Atalanta was suggested and at one time Hojlund seemed close to a switch to AC Milan, but Napoli charged out of nowhere and are now looking to get the final details settled and bring the Dane to Naples.
United standing firm
United have often been criticised for being a bad selling club, and things haven’t quite gone to plan with departures so far this summer.
But the deal for Hojlund to Napoli looks set to be done strictly on United’s terms. Reports this afternoon indicated I Partenopei were confident that the deal would be concluded today, however the Red Devils have stood firm with their terms and final agreement is still pending.
Sky Italia report that there is a general agreement that it will be a loan deal with an obligation to buy but the terms of the obligation are still being hammered out, with United rejecting Napoli’s requested conditions.
The report indicates that “Napoli would like to include the fulfilment of certain conditions (such as appearances), while United do not”, a refreshing example of the Red Devils putting their foot down.
No need for panic
Regardless of the fine detail, there seems little chance of the deal falling apart over it.
Sky Italia claimed this afternoon that Napoli “are confident a definitive understanding can be reached in the next few hours, although no white smoke is expected today, Tuesday, August 26th.”
While Hojlund is yet to finally depart, so too is his replacement yet to get fully up and running – Sesko has played for just over an hour across the matches again Arsenal and Fulham.
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
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