Jose Mourinho eyeing up Manchester United flop for Fenerbahce loan move

Jose Mourinho is hoping to raid one of his former clubs this summer and tempt Rasmus Hojlund to Fenerbache from Manchester United on a loan deal.

The Danish striker has had a very difficult season, clearly struggling for form and confidence up front for the Red Devils.

Still just 22 years old, Hojlund has scored 10 goals in all competitions this campaign, but they have come in 49 appearances.

His strike rate in the Premier League has been especially poor, netting just four times in 30 outings, 21 of those appearances coming in the starting XI.

Given he does not turn 23 until February, there is still plenty of time for the Denmark international to improve, but Manchester United may already be ready to cut their losses.

The Red Devils paid Atalanta an initial £64m for Hojlund in 2023, with the potential of another £8m to come in add-ons.

26 goals in 92 appearances later, that is looking like a lot of money for a player who has failed to convince at the top level, so far.

Turkish publication Sozcu report that Fenerbahce are ready to take advantage of the situation and make a move for Hojlund.

While a permanent deal may be difficult to do, the report states that Fenerbahce will make an offer for a loan deal with an option to buy.

There is set to be something of a clearout from the Turkish side this summer, with Edin Dzeko to leave at the end of his contract, while Youssef En-Nesyri and Cenk Tosun could be sold.

Sozcu also report that Lyon goalkeeper Lucas Perri is a target as Fiorentina are believed to be interested in Fener stopper Dominik Livakovic.

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim was asked last month if Hojlund could be sold in the summer and would not commit but did say he likes the struggling forward.

‘We like our strikers,’ said the Portuguese coach. ‘We’re improving our strikers. We’ll see what happens next season. Rasmus is scoring, so we’ll see.’

Speaking in March, co-owner of Manchester United Jim Ratcliffe namechecked Hojlund as a player the club still owe payments from before he arrived, and he didn’t sound too happy about it.

‘If you look at the players we are buying this summer, that we didn’t buy, we’re buying Antony, we’re buying Casemiro, we’re buying Onana, we’re buying Hojlund, we’re buying Sancho,’ Ratcliffe told the BBC. ‘These are all things from the past, whether we like it or not, we’ve inherited those things and have to sort that out.

‘For Sancho, who now plays for Chelsea and we pay half his wages, we’re paying £17m to buy him in the summer.’

On whether he was suggesting these players are not good enough, he said: ‘Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid, but for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for, and accountable for, will take time.

“We’ve got this period of transformation where we move from the past to the future.’