Manchester United paid too fast for Rasmus Hojlund. He is a willing employee, but not a goal scorer and for £ 72 million you want some goals for your investment!
Is he good enough to be the Head Center of United in a team that challenges a challenge for large trophies? After 19 games without scoring, the proof suggests that he is not.
I have sympathy for the DANE. He is a young boy who is thrown into a struggling team with enormous pressure, but I have to be honest and say that I don't think he's their answer. What is even more important, I don't feel that manager Ruben Amorim also believes in him for the long term.
However, identifying the problem does not necessarily help to resolve and Amorim has a major problem.
Although he needs an upgrade on Hojlund, every world class striker that is available this summer will probably also have other options and choose to go somewhere else.
That is a shock for a club of the size and history of United. They have always been used to buying the best. They would choose a Wayne Rooney or Robin van Persie and go get them.
However, the landscape is now very different. If Alexander Isak of Newcastle is the best in the classroom, the visitors to Old Trafford, Arsenal – who also wants a no. 9 – are in a much better place than United to attract the Swedish star to their club.
United 90 percent would probably sign a top player if they went after him. Now there is a 90 percent chance that Isak would reject them.
Jonathan David van Lille, who scored against Real Madrid and Liverpool in the Champions League of this season, is again a highly rated ahead. But he no longer has a contract this summer and will have more attractive vovers than United.
Given a direct choice, Brighton's Joao Pedro would, for example, prefer Anfield to Old Trafford. How the powerful cases are.
Since he has to do something in advance without spending an enormous amount, Amorim can use his personal history to sign Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon or make a relatively cheap move for the Jean-Philippe Mateta from Crystal Palace.
Both are decent attackers, but not the types that United would have viewed in the past or even more recent times – when Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic went to Old Trafford.
Today's A-Listers want regular Champions League football, competitive wages and a club with stability. That is hardly united, who gave Erik ten Hag a new contract after winning the FA Cup, then dismissed him and generally had no consistency under Ineos.
It leaves Amorim in the uncomfortable situation that probably has to sell to buy. As is often the case, the players he has with decent market values - Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho – are those he would ideally want to keep.
In the meantime, the Stretford will want Hojlund to break through his infertile line against Arsenal this weekend.
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