Hojlund: ‘When Conte calls, you say yes, and Manchester United made it clear’

Rasmus Hojlund is full of praise for Antonio Conte and Romelu Lukaku, revealing that when Manchester United ‘made it quite clear I wasn’t part of their plans,’ then he only wanted Napoli.

The striker had been a huge investment for Manchester United, who spent nearly €80m to pick him up from Atalanta in the summer of 2023.

Just two years into his Old Trafford experience, he returned to Serie A for Napoli, although is at pains to make clear it wasn’t his choice to walk away.

“United made it quite clear for me that I wasn’t part of the plans for this year coming into the season, and with no European football and that sort of things,” Hojlund told Sports Illustrated.

“I’m young, I have to play football, and for that reason, I think this was also a good opportunity for me.”

The 22-year-old was snapped up on loan for €6m with an option to buy for a further €44m, becoming an obligation if they qualify for the Champions League.

“Napoli saw an opportunity to go and get me and as soon as I heard the interest from them, I made it quite obvious for my camp and for the people around that I only wanted to go there.”

Hojlund was even more determined to make the move to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona after speaking directly with coach Conte.

“It was a quite short conversation, but a very, very good one,” confessed the striker.

“I think he’s an incredible coach. I’ve only seen him do good things almost everywhere he’s been so obviously that was a big part of it. When he calls you, you just have to say yes.”

Conte has been explaining lately precisely how he has improved Hojlund’s game, and the results are showing with seven goals and three assists in 19 competitive matches.

The Dane was signed by Napoli as an emergency replacement for Romelu Lukaku, who was ruled out for four months when suffering a serious injury during a pre-season friendly.

However, the opportunity to potentially play alongside the Belgian was also a big draw for Hojlund.

“Rom is a fantastic guy. I didn’t really know him from before,” he admits, “I’ve had a couple of chats with him, like on the pitch, and I’ve actually got a Romelu shirt at home. He’s a bit of an idol for me, because I’ve always looked up to him, actually.

“I want to learn from him as well because I feel like he can give me so much, because he’s always been scoring goals, and he’s great at linking the play and these sort of things. I think he has a lot he can give out as well.”