It’s almost Christmas, and Rasmus Hojlund has yet to score for Manchester United in the Premier League. In the summer, United paid £72 million to recruit Hojlund from Atalanta, and no one expected him to reach 2024 without scoring in the league, despite the amount being a long-term investment.

Hojlund has five goals in Europe, but it hasn’t worked out at home. The longer he goes without a first-league goal, the more of a talking topic it becomes, and the strain on his young shoulders is already too much.

Hojlund, who had only nine league goals for Atalanta the season before he was bought, shouldn’t have been the lone striker brought in, and a more experienced forward should have joined him.

United wanted a proven goal scorer and instead signed Hojlund. The move was a gamble, and the club trusted Erik ten Hag to polish him into a diamond, but his growth was always going to be slow.

Although Hojlund has all the tools to thrive in the Premier League, he is currently suffering, and it was difficult not to feel terrible for him as he hobbled off the ground against West Ham.

Hojlund was replaced by Marcus Rashford just before the hour mark at the London Stadium, and Ten Hag confirmed the switch when asked about it at his news conference.

“I think he’s a very strong character and he can deal with the stress,” said Ten Hag. “I took him off because he was sick during the week, so he had a little less power, so in that sense I protected him.”

“We have two more games this week, but no one can feel sorry for themselves.” We must accept responsibility. If you play for Manchester United, you must work together, and everyone must be accountable and take responsibility.”