Man Utd: Owen tells Carrick to sanction return of £72m star for ‘fair crack of the whip’ | OneFootball

Michael Owen has explained why he thinks Manchester United need to sanction the return of Rasmus Hojlund during this summer’s transfer window.

Man Utd invested around £72m (initial fee of £64m) to sign Hojlund from Serie A outfit Atalanta during the 2023 summer window.

After a strong debut season at Old Trafford, Hojlund proved a massive disappointment during the 2024/25 campaign and was ushered out the door in the summer.

The 23-year-old joined Napoli on loan with an option to buy for £43m last summer and he has returned to form for the Serie A giants. It has recently been incidated that he is set to join them permanently haead of next season.

However, Owen would like to see Hojlund back at Man Utd for a “fair crack of the whipe” after previously playing in a “broken” team.

“I don’t care who you play up front, it’s very hard to judge when the team aren’t functioning,” Owen told Premier League Productions after Man Utd’s 2-1 win against Brentford on Monday night.

“Stirkers are the end of the chain, if the chain is broken, it’s pointless in many ways. I would love to see Hojlund and see what he can do now.

“He played in a Manchester United team that was broken and didn’t have any links and played poorly. Who’s to say he’s not really good? He’s doing really well in Italy now.

“Sesko is the same, it was hard to judge but now that chain throughout the team is actually working, you are seeing a different type of player.

“I just wonder how much wastage there has been for many years in. Everyone says the purchases have been poor and that might be the case but sometimes they might not get a fair crack of the whip because they don’t get the service.”

“Those two positions I would focus on…”

Ex-United forward Louis Saha also thinks his former side needs to strengthen in attack as one of two summer priorities.

“Central midfield is a must for Manchester United in the transfer market, especially if we don’t keep Casemiro, but still we need better athleticism in midfield,” Saha told Ozoon.

“We need someone that you feel like is going to be dominant, pretty much all through the pitch, we need a similar style to Declan Rice, a profile that can offer so much and also dominate physically.

“I’d also like to see a new striker at the club, Benjamin Sesko is a top player with big potential but we need another type of striker. Those are the two positions I would focus on.”