Erik ten Hag admits Man United 'couldn't get' his No 1 target Harry Kane and turned to £72m Rasmus Hojlund as a second choice, as he opens up on transfers - and says he WON'T play it safe to fix defence

Erik ten Hag has admitted that Manchester United signed Rasmus Hojlund last summer because they were unable to bring in Harry Kane.

Hojlund joined United for £72million from Atalanta for £72million, with Kane signing for Bayern Munich from Tottenham for £100million.

So far in his first season at United Hojlund has scored eight goals in 26 Premier League appearances, while Kane has found the net 35 times in 31 Bundesliga games for Bayern.

Ten Hag has admitted that it is unfair to compare the two players and has backed 21-year-old Hojlund to continue to make progress. 

Speaking in an interview with Gary Neville on Sky Sports about the type of players United can sign, Ten Hag said: 'That can only be outstanding players. That's players who have all the skillset, that is the physical and especially the mental skillset they need to perform and contribute because we have to win every game. 

'There's an expectation around every game from us so you can only fulfil that expectation when you have those outstanding players.

'But in the last decade and in this period, we couldn't always get the players we wanted. But then you have to build and you have to accept that you get talent in instead of players who already proved it in the past. 

'We have had some choices made with talents like Rasmus Hojlund. I can see a striker who already proved it, who we want to sign and we couldn't get him. And then we went to Rasmus because he's a talent.'

Ten Hag was then asked if he was referring to Kane as the striker he missed out on, to which he replied: 'Yes, and you know Harry Kane will get you 30 goals. I think Rasmus will get there, but he needs time. It's not fair to assess him the same as Harry Kane. I would never compare two players because they are very different.

'But with Hojlund, I think we had the biggest potential in the striker position last summer and we are very happy with him. But he also needs time to adapt and we are very pleased he showed his assets in scoring goals.'

United have struggled defensively this season, with injuries not helping their cause. Ten Hag's side have conceded 51 goals in the Premier League. 

Ten Hag, who has held discussions with the club's new technical director Jason Wilcox, stated that he will not play it safe as he attempts to fix United's defence this summer.

He said: 'Now we have to take things quickly because the summer is coming. A very important summer is coming. We want to make the next step into our squad and also make plans to create an environment to avoid this year's problems in injuries.' 

United are currently in sixth place in the Premier League having struggled for consistency this season and they face a battle just to secure a spot in the play-off round of the Europa Conference League.

Ten Hag's side were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages and were eliminated in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup. They have, however, reached the FA Cup final for the second consecutive season and will be looking for revenge against rivals Manchester City.