After Napoli beat Bologna on December 22 to win the Supercoppa Italiana, Rasmus Hojlund posted a picture of him holding the trophy, accompanied by the words, "What a great decision looks like." Unsurprisingly, some Manchester United fans didn't react well to the perceived slight on their club. One comment on Hojlund's Instagram photo with more than 14,000 likes sarcastically congratulated the Dane for finding his 'level' before adding, "[The] Premier League is too difficult for amateurs."
The idea that it's easier for strikers to score goals in Serie A is obviously debatable but the online trolls were perfectly entitled to point out that leaving United hadn't really been Hojlund's "decision". Throughout the summer, he was very vocal about his desire to stay and "fight for his spot" – only to be forced out of Old Trafford by manager Ruben Amorim following the £74 million ($99.5m) acquisition of Benjamin Sesko.
However, even if Hojlund ultimately had little say in his United exit, what's already abundantly clear is that moving to Napoli was the best thing he could have done. "There were more storied clubs interested" in his services, according to the Partenopei's sporting director Giovanni Manna. But Hojlund felt a move to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona was "exactly what I need right now in my career" – and it's already proven an inspired choice.
Indeed, a permanent £38m ($51m) move, which is dependent upon Champions League qualification is pretty much "a formality" in Manna's eyes – because while Sesko is now struggling even more than the Dane ever did under Amorim, Hojlund has been reborn in Italy thanks to Antonio Conte…
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First McTominay, now Hojlund
When Hojlund scored on his Napoli debut, Antonio Conte quipped that he had been hoping all along that signing the forward would bring his team the same good fortune as another Old Trafford outcast, Scott McTominay, who had played a starring role in the Partenopei's surprise title triumph in his first season at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Luck had had nothing to do with it, though. Conte may be a divisive figure in football but he's also an astute judge of a player's (sometimes hidden) attributes, as well as a magnificent man-manager. McTominay has openly admitted that he felt he had been "misprofiled" in Manchester, repeatedly used as a defensive midfielder – and even a centre-back on occasion. Conte, though, could see that the Scot had "goals in his DNA" and he couldn't have been more correct, with McTominay scoring 13 times during last season's Scudetto success.
Of course, Conte also has previous when it comes to revitalising a No.9 that has flopped at Old Trafford.
When the Italian finally got the chance to work with Romelu Lukaku at Inter after three previous attempts to sign the striker during his time in charge of Juventus and Chelsea, he transformed the big Belgian into one of the most effective forwards in world football by improving his play with his back to goal.
Crucially, Conte is just as confident that he can do something similar with Hojlund.
"He's a 22-year-old who was on the sidelines at Manchester United," the Napoli boss enthused after Hojlund's winner against Genoa on October 5. "He has significant room for improvement. He needs to work because he has the potential to become a star, and he's proving it."
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Toiling at Old Trafford
There's no denying that Hojlund underwhelmed during his two-year spell at United. At one point during his second season, he went 21 games without a goal – during which time his first touch deserted him and his hold-up play fell apart. Rio Ferdinand was among those that felt Hojlund had also become far too concerned with trying to outmuscle opponents.
"I get frustrated watching because he's always trying to fight the defender and have contact," the former United centre-back told. "Sometimes [you should] release yourself from contact so when you have someone against you, it’s easier to take the ball and get into areas where you'll affect the game, in between the posts and in the box."
It hadn't always been like that, though. There were flashes of the potential star United thought they were buying from Atalanta during a debut campaign in which he became the youngest player in Premier League history to score in six consecutive games.
Furthermore, despite looking utterly bereft of confidence by the tail end of last season, Hojlund remained steadfast in his belief that he could "deliver goals" on a consistent basis for United.
"I feel like I've matured a lot, and I feel like I'm ready for what's coming," he told reporters in July. "I'm still very young. People forget that sometimes. Not every striker is scoring 100 goals at the age of 22.
"But I've learned a lot, I think you can see in my game. I'm starting to develop and become even better at the basics."
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'Starting to understand' his role
There's certainly been a noticeable improvement in his link-up play at Napoli, with David Neres having already scored three times from Hojlund assists so far this season.
"Conte gives him confidence and is making him grow," Luca Nigriello, a scout and member of the Sport Entertainment Group agency that represents the Denmark international, told . "Rasmus plays, makes mistakes, and learns. He has become hungrier, more consistent. He is a chameleon who adapts to what the team asks and he is also learning new things. He has always been a striker of depth, as seen at Atalanta. Now he is adding movements that are more typical of the penalty area, more like a central reference point, almost like Lukaku."
Unsurprisingly, Conte is thrilled with the way in which Hojlund is learning how to better lead the line by bringing others into the game at every opportunity – not least because his beloved Lukaku has missed the majority of the season so far through injury.
"Since Hojlund first joined us, he has already progressed to become a dominant player in that role," Conte explained, "because he’s starting to understand the right positions to take, how to defend the ball, when to come towards it or back off."
Of course, all No.9s are judged by their strike-rate and, as Hojlund pointed out in a slightly strange ketchup analogy, the goals are starting to flow again for him.
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'Quite similar to Haaland'
Hojlund's overall tally of nine goals is hardly remarkable – even if does mean he's already just one away from matching his entire 2024-25 tally for United – but what is noteworthy is that Sunday's decisive double at Cremonese means he's now netted five times in his last five appearances in all competitions.
Consequently, the past comparisons with Erling Haaland no longer seem quite so farcical, with even Kevin De Bruyne stating Hojlund is "quite similar" to his fellow Scandinavian striker.
"Both are left-footed and like to attack space," the former Manchester City attacking midfielder said, "and I think that Rasmus has a lot of quality."
It's obviously a shame that De Bruyne picked up a potential season-ending injury while converting a penalty against Inter two months ago, breaking up a surprisingly promising partnership.
As Hojlund himself wrote after the October 1 win over Sporting CP at the Maradona, "'Hojlund scores twice in the Champions League after two assists from Kevin de Bruyne' was not on my 2025 bingo card!"
