Erik ten Hag made no secret of his disappointment when learning that Manchester United could not succeed in luring Harry Kane away from Tottenham Hotspur and to Old Trafford.
With Daniel Levy preferring to tear out his teeth with rusty tweezers than sell Spurs’ star man to a direct Premier League rival, the Red Devils were always up against it in their pursuit of arguably Europe’s finest number nine.
But, while Erik ten Hag was pleased to land what he feels is a world-leading centre-forward in the making in Rasmus Hojlund, the Manchester United boss can be forgiven for wondering how a difficult 2023/24 campaign would have turned out had Harry Kane been leading the line in England’s north west rather than at Bayern Munich.
“This club can only have outstanding players because the expectations are so high,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports. “Manchester United is the biggest, or maybe second or third, biggest, club in the world. It 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.”
“You know Harry Kane will get you 30 goals,” the Dutchman added. “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.”
Manchester United lose out to Bayern Munich again
In the end, Kane finished his debut season in Bavaria not with 30 goals but 44, despite going trophyless once again.
He was certainly more successful under Thomas Tuchel than another player on Man United’s radar during the summer of 2023, Kane thriving where former Red Devils target Kim Min-Jae toiled.
Whether Assan Ouedraogo ends up being a success like Kane or a disappointment a la Kim, however, only time will tell. What is more certain however is that, for the third time in the space of 12 months, a Man United target appears to be on his way to the Allianz Arena.
BILD report that ‘offers are piling up’ for the Schalke wonderkid, Manchester United among those to have made their interest known alongside Liverpool and Brighton.
“His family and his agent are in negotiations with big clubs,” Marc Wilmots, Schalke’s sporting director, tells WAZ.
Ouedraogo set to join Bayern
German publication Sportbuzzer say that it is not Man United but Bayern who are set to win the race for Ouedraogo.
The Champions League semi-finalits will stump up a fee that could rise to £13 million with add-ons included before loaning Ouedraogo back to Schalke for the 2024/25 campaign.
Still only 18, Ouedraogo scored three goals and provided two assists for the Gelsenkirchen outfit in Germany’s second tier this season.
A towering and twinkle-toed central midfielder who can also play out wide, comparisons have been drawn with a young Paul Pogba due to Ouedraogo’s formidable combination of physical and technical gifts.