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9 months ago
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Erik ten Hag has defended Manchester United’s decision not to sign another striker after Rasmus Hojlund was ruled out for up to five games with a muscle injury.
Hojlund joins Antony Martial on the sidelines, leaving Ten Hag short of firepower as he chases the top-four place that could be crucial to keeping his job at the end of the season.
United spent £72million on Hojlund in the summer but abandoned plans to sign a second striker, and paid another £107m for midfielder Mason Mount and goalkeeper Andre Onana instead.
Financial Fair Play restrictions meant Ten Hag was unable to bring in a replacement for Martial in January after the Frenchman was ruled out until April following groin surgery, and now top scorer Hojlund is out for up to three weeks.
The United boss admitted that he expected more from Martial in the final season of his £250,000-a-week contract, but denied the club have blundered by not having more options.
Erik ten Hag has defended Manchester United’s decision not to sign another striker
It comes after Rasmus Hojlund was ruled out for up to three weeks after suffering an injury
‘We were happy to bring Rasmus Hojlund in,’ said Ten Hag. ‘We had two strikers. Martial has done great things for us last season. So he is also on high payment in this club.
‘We should have expected more, that is the truth. But to bring in another striker, that means you rule him (Martial) totally out at the start of the season,
‘Then there is Marcus Rashford so actually we had three strikers in our squad. If you bring in a fourth, the prospects for the others will get short. So I thought – we thought – we had options.
‘I wanted to bring in a striker in the winter but it was not possible. And we already had our problems with FFP in the summer.’
Rashford is set to switch to centre-forward against Fulham at Old Trafford on Saturday with Omari Forson in contention with Antony for a place on the wing.
The Dane has been in red-hot form since Christmas, scoring eight goals in his last eight games
Ten Hag admitted he expected more from Anthony Martial this season, with the Frenchman - who is in the final year of his contract at Old Trafford - ravaged by injuries over recent months
Losing Hojlund is a huge blow to United with the Dane on a run of eight goals in eight games. It comes after Luke Shaw and Lisandro Martinez both suffered long-term injuries, threatening to derail United’s top-four challenge.
Ten Hag admitted that his team ‘have to be in the Champions League’ but insisted he has the confidence of new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘I have that feeling from when we have so many talks. We have the same ambition and we are very aligned in the process.’
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