Manchester United will face Nottingham Forest for the 109th time on Saturday but it would be a massive surprise if the scoreline looked anything like the one from their 1999 encounter.
10.08.2023 - 08:43 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
New recruit Rasmus Hojlund has achieved his childhood dream by earning the opportunity to play for Manchester United.
The 20-year-old, who scored ten goals in 34 appearances for Italian club Atalanta last season, finalised his move to Old Trafford last weekend. United highlighted him as their primary striker target after any hopes of signing Tottenham Hotspur ace Harry Kane faded.
Hojlund, who will miss the start of the new season while he continues to recover from an injury, was presented to his new army of supporters ahead of last Saturday's 3-1 pre-season friendly victory over RC Lens at Old Trafford. Once he has worked his way back to full fitness, he will be determined to hit the ground running and start repaying United in goals.
It was quickly discovered at the time of United first registering their interest in Hojlund that he is a lifelong Reds supporter. Now, photographic evidence has revealed just how desperate he was to play for the club.
In an interview conducted with TV2 Sport, Hojlund, who trained alone at Carrington on Wednesday, shared a piece of paper with five childhood ambitions written on it. Though he requested for four of them not be revealed, the fifth one was to play for United.
Writing his personal goals at the age of just ten, Hojlund scribbled down: "My goal is to play for the Danish national team and for Manchester United."
Hojlund, though he does not turn 21 until next February, is now on the cusp of achieving both ambitions, with him poised to make his United debut in the not too distant future. He has already earned six senior caps for Denmark, plundering six goals, featuring a hat-trick on his first start back in March.
On his dream to play for United, Hojlund said: "It's about dreaming big
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