Manchester United star sends message to Rasmus Hojlund after debut Napoli goal

Rasmus Hojlund scored on his Napoli debut (Picture: Getty)

Rasmus Hojlund scored on his debut for Napoli following a summer move from Manchester United .

The Denmark international, who struggled at Old Trafford , scored Napoli’s second goal in a 3-1 win over Fiorentina.

Ex-Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne was also on target, netting his second Napoli goal since joining the club on a free transfer .

Napoli signed Hojlund on a season-long loan on transfer deadline day and are obliged to make the deal permanent for £38m next summer .

Manchester United paid over £70m to sign Hojlund from Atalanta in 2023 but he endured two difficult seasons at the club, scoring just four Premier League goals last term.

Hojlund will hope to revive his career in Naples and got off to the perfect start, scoring in a win over Fiorentina that sent Antonio Conte’s side back to the top of the Serie A table.

The 22-year-old striker posted ‘first day at the new job didn’t disappoint’ on social media after the victory and his former United teammate Harry Maguire was quick to respond.

Hojlund celebrates with Napoli boss Antonio Conte (Picture: Getty)

‘Love it mate,’ the England defender wrote with a fire and a clapping emoji.

Conte, meanwhile, hailed Hojlund as a player with ‘great potential’ after the Fiorentina win and joked he was signed due to Scott McTominay’s success at Napoli.

Like Hojlund, McTominay was also pushed out by the Red Devils last summer before enjoying a sensational season in Italy.

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McTominay was one of the standout players in Serie A, scoring 12 goals from midfield, and has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or award .

‘Hojlund is only 22, we got him from Manchester United, seeing as it brought us luck doing that with McTominay,’ Conte joked in his post-match press conference.

‘We knew his qualities, he has great potential and can improve. You can see he’s a lad with great prospects.

Manchester United decided to offload Hojlund (Picture: Getty)

‘We signed Hojlund to replace Romelu, who will be out for a long time. We controlled the match today, we also need someone who can hold the ball up, that’s true of all teams who want to dominate matches.

‘Everyone did well tonight, we were concentrated, allowing Fiorentina very little movement with our high press, which caused them a lot of problems.

‘We could’ve scored more goals against a Fiorentina side who reached the Conference League Final for two years running, then the semi-final in the third, also reaching the Coppa Italia Final.

‘We are talking about a team that has for years been well-structured to play in several tournaments, so they have really good players.

‘I think they are being underrated, so coming here and winning like this should make us feel strong.

‘At the same time, we need to see where we can improve. I am not a perfectionist, but I do prefer to see the glass half-empty so I can focus on where we need to improve.’

Manchester United sanctioned Hojlund’s move to Italy after signing Benjamin Sesko in a £74m deal from RB Leipzig .