Man Utd told they’re making £38m transfer BLUNDER over ‘absolutely fantastic’ attacker

Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel believes his old club are making a big mistake by offloading an ‘absolutely fantastic’ attacking talent in the upcoming summer transfer window.

The Red Devils are closing in on a third-placed Premier League finish under interim boss Michael Carrick, having secured a Champions League spot over the weekend with their victory over bitter rivals Liverpool.

Man Utd are expected to spend big again this summer, having revamped their frontlines for the current campaign, with midfield the main focus of attention this time around for sporting director Jason Wilcox and head of recruitment Christopher Vivell.

However, several players are also expected to move on, with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Manuel Ugarte, Joshua Zirkzee, Andre Onana and Rasmus Hojlund all ready to follow Casemiro out the Old Trafford exit door.

And it’s the latter who is the main focus of Schmeichel’s attention, having scored 14 goals in 41 games while on loan at Napoli this term.

As part of last summer’s loan deal, Napoli agreed to sign Hojlund on a permanent transfer for a fee of €44million (£38m), if they qualified for the Champions League.

Sitting second in Serie A with just three games remaining, Antonio Conte’s side are almost guaranteed to qualify for Europe’s premier cup competition, meaning that Hojlund will remain in Naples.

Schmeichel, however, wishes Hojlund was heading back to United instead, given that he was never really given a fair crack of the whip after his £72m move from Atalanta in 2023.

Indeed, the Dane feels that too much pressure was put on his fellow countryman after he’d scored 16 goals during his debut campaign.

His replacement, meanwhile, Benjamin Sesko, has improved as the season has gone on, scoring 11 Premier League goals to date.

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And, while United could still look to bring in another No.9 this summer, Schmeichel says it is ‘a shame’ that Hojlund will not be back.

“I think the deal is if Napoli qualify for the Champions League then they are obliged to sign Rasmus Hojlund permanently,” Schmeichel said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.

“So that’s a bit of a shame because I like Hojlund by the way and think he could have been absolutely fantastic.

“But I don’t think he wants to come back and I don’t think he can because Napoli have already qualified for the Champions League.”

Meanwhile, fellow former United star Nicky Butt also feels that his old club’s treatment of Hojlund was ‘wrong’ and has concerns that things could go the same way with 22-year-old Sesko.

“What they did with Hojlund was wrong because they brought a young boy in who’s not got any Premier League experience and asked him to carry Manchester United,” Butt said.

“I’m scared they’re going to do that with Sesko. I know Sesko has done really well of late but they still need to get another centre forward, we had four top players in that position.”

One striker who will not be heading to Old Trafford, though, is England skipper Harry Kane, following the latest developments at Bayern Munich.