Rasmus Hojlund's future at Manchester United has been a widely debated topic all summer.
Hojlund, 22, provided a lousy return of just four Premier League goals last season and often cut a frustrated figure when leading the line for Ruben Amorim.
With talk of an exit dominating the summer headlines, a move to Italy has been proposed, with the Denmark international having only just returned to pre-season training at Carrington last week.
Rasmus Hojlund transfer update REVEALED amid Serie A interest
Hojlund clearly strives with confidence; that much is clear. The former Atalanta man swept home 16 goals in his debut season at Old Trafford and to this day still holds the record as the youngest-ever player to score in six successive Premier League games.
But with Amorim needing results now more than ever, Hojlund will be under even more pressure this season and with Joshua Zirkzee and Chido Obi breathing down his neck, it's unclear if the 22-year-old is simply up to the task.
The Athletic say, however, Hojlund will not now be on his way to Inter Milan, as first thought, with the Italian giants having cooled their interest in the forward.
Inter recently signed 21-year-old Ange-Yoan Bonny, who scored six goals in Serie A for Parma last season, costing the club an estimated 23m (�19.9m).
"Im happy, of course, all the team has to improve, but the way he runs, he fights for every ball, loses a lot of duels, wins some duels, he needs to improve the connection," said Amorim when asked about Hojlund back in May.
"But he is improving. Im really happy with him; he just needs to continue working hard and better things will come."
In FourFourTwo's view, predicting how Hojlund performs in 2025/26 remains an impossible task. The Dane has enjoyed two very different campaigns so far, despite showing some promise in flashes.
What Manchester United needed all along was a striker for Hojlund to learn from, and without that kind of figure at the club, it was always going to be a difficult rut to get out of when things eventually went wrong for the 22-year-old.
It's safe to say the ex-Copenhagen forward will probably still be around at the start of the new term, especially with INEOS now prioritising exits for the likes of Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Antony.
Whether he shows real guts and determination in pre-season remains to be seen, but something has to change for Hojlund sooner rather than later to turn his career around at Old Trafford once and for all.
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