Lindstrom makes cheeky request to Hojlund before game

Everton loanee Jesper Lindstrom has asked childhood friend Rasmus Hojlund to take it easy on his struggling side at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Lindstrom sent the cheeky request to his Danish international teammate on Thursday after Hojlund's double against Bodo Glimt in the Europa League.

But he received an emphatic response from the 21-year-old Manchester United striker who wants to continue to impress his new manager Ruben Amorim.

“I texted him after the game to congratulate him on his two goals, but I told him not to score this weekend,” Lindstrom revealed.

'His answer was that he would do his best to score goals.

'I knew him since he was about ten years old. He didn't seem like much when he was young.

'His Danish team didn't believe in him so he went to a club in Austria where he destroyed it and then went to Italy and destroyed it there.

'There is a good reason why Rasmus is at Manchester: he is a good player. He has qualities, as you saw on Thursday with some good results.'

Lindstrom will also look to bring in another international in the United ranks, Christian Eriksen.

Winger Lindstrom remembers all too well the horror of watching the coverage of Eriksen's cardiac arrest during Euro 2020 from his brother's wedding.

“My brother's wedding reception stopped completely because everyone wanted to know what happened,” Lindstrom says.

'I had my phone next to me and I was watching the Denmark game on it, just like some of the other guys were doing there. My brother didn't know we were watching, but we had to do it because we love football.

“Suddenly everyone picked up their phones and my brother came over and said, 'What's going on?' It was crazy.

'Luckily Christian is still alive. He's such a good person and a great player. I'm happy for him and his family. I imagine it must have been tough for all of them.

“He wouldn't know what happened to him, because he 'died' – he wasn't there, but everyone in Denmark was thinking about him.”

For 24-year-old Lindstrom, Old Trafford would be the ideal platform to showcase the potential that once convinced Napoli to buy him for £30m.

He is on loan from Serie A at Goodison and is back on track after a slow start. Everton have slipped towards the danger zone after failing to score in their last three games and face a tough fixture list in December, including games against Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea.

He added: “As the games go on and the more playing time I get, the more rhythm I will have. I don't get any cramps after sixty minutes, so I feel like I'm getting the rhythm back and I need that last minute.'

Revealing that he is open to a permanent move, Lindstrom says, “I will do whatever I can to get them to buy me because I like it here.

'I love the training, I love the privacy, I love living here. So hopefully they will buy me, but I have to show them that I am good enough for them.'