Erik ten Hag extremely keen on reunion with 22-year-old Manchester United star at Leverkusen: Reports

Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is reportedly keen on a reunion with Rasmus Hojlund at Bayer Leverkusen. The Dutchman took charge of the German Bundesliga side this summer, filling the void left by Xabi Alonso's move to Real Madrid.

Ten Hag, who served as the Manchester United manager between 2022 and 2024, is reportedly eyeing a raid on his previous employers. As reported by Four Four Two, the former Ajax manager wants to strengthen his attack at the BayArena with Rasmus Hojlund.

Expectations were massive from Hojlund when he moved to Old Trafford in the summer of 2023. The Danish striker cost the Red Devils £72 million but he has not been able to justify his massive price tag.

Hojlund has made 95 appearances for Manchester United across two seasons and has only contributed with 26 goals and six assists. The Red Devils are understood to be eyeing a new striker this summer and are reportedly ready to offload Hojlund.

The 22-year-old, however, is keen to stay at Old Trafford and fight for his place. Ruben Amorim wants a new striker this summer but the Red Devils' finances pose a major challenge to his plans.

Erik ten Hag was in charge at Old Trafford when the 20-time English champions secured Hojlund's signing from Atalanta. The Dutchman has two quality strikers at his disposal at Bayer Leverkusen in the form of Victor Boniface and Patrik Schick.

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Bruno Fernandes urges Manchester United to make more signings: Reports

Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes has urged the club to make more signings this summer. He has also claimed that the Red Devils looked 'lazy' in their 2-2 draw against Everton in a pre-season friendly.

Bruno Fernandes scored from the spot while also setting up Mason Mount but were twice pegged back by Everton. Following the game, the Portuguese midfielder said, as quoted by The Daily Mail:

"Our performance wasn’t the best off the ball. We were a little bit lazy and we have to avoid that because the laziness you can pay at any moment. It’s improving. It’s not where we want it to be. I don’t want to have a dig at anyone, but I think the club is doing the best they can in terms of all the financial situations they talk about."

He added:

"I don’t know about it, I’m not involved in that. But obviously it was crystal clear we needed more competition for the players that were here. We needed more quality to get everyone to step up a bit more, to have to do more to get into the starting XI. I think that’s what the club and the manager are trying to do, and hopefully we can get one or two players more to help with that."

Bruno Fernandes has been excellent for Manchester United over the years despite the club's struggles in recent years. He joined the Red Devils in 2020 from Sporting CP and has made 290 appearances, scoring 98 goals and producing 86 assists.

Edited by Snehanjan Banerjee