Rasmus Hojlund’s return to health has given Manchester United a boost ahead of their Premier League encounter against Crystal Palace on Saturday evening.
Alejandro Garnacho described well the reaction of all Manchester United supporters when Rasmus Hojlund returned to training.
Hojlund has yet to play this season due to a hamstring injury sustained in preseason, allowing Joshua Zirkzee to lead the line following his departure from Bologna. However, the Denmark international returned to training on Thursday, raising expectations that he may play in the Premier League against Crystal Palace on Saturday evening.
While United has showed indications of improvement in the final third in recent wins against Southampton and Barnsley, they have missed Hojlund’s presence up front. Prior to the 3-0 victory against Saints, they had scored only two goals in four Premier League games and would be delighted to bring back Hojlund, who scored 16 goals in all competitions last season.
Hojlund celebrated his return to fitness by uploading a couple images from United training on Instagram. “I guess being a football player, the caption should be ‘happy to be on the pitch again’, but I think the photo says it all,” he said with a photo of himself smiling with Mason Mount.
United winger Garnacho responded with four sobbing emojis and the word “finally.” Mount, who has also recovered from a hamstring injury, commented: “Caption king,” while Harry Maguire joked: “You don’t look happy in the second photo.”
Hojlund has been upset to miss the start of the season for the second year in a row after injuring his hamstring in a pre-season friendly against Arsenal. The 21-year-old arrived to United with a back injury last summer and is eager to get started again this season.
However, Erik ten Hag has already expressed concern over Hojlund and Mount, who has missed the last four games due to a niggle sustained in Brighton’s 2-1 defeat on August 24. The United manager had to cope with 66 different ailments affecting players during the 2023/24 season and would not hurry their return.
“You have to be careful,” Ten Hag added. “In great football, you always push the boundaries. When you have a complete squad accessible, it is easier to handle the workload. When you’re in a situation like last season and you need to play, we had to overwhelm them. We intend to integrate them carefully.”
United will meet Palace at 5.30pm on Saturday, fresh off a 7-0 Carabao Cup victory over League One side Barnsley on Tuesday. Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, and Christian Eriksen all scored braces in that game and will be looking to maintain that trend in the league, as United sit in 10th position after two victories and two losses.
