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After a laborious negotiation process with Serie A side Atalanta, Manchester United finally got their new striker in the form of Rasmus Hojlund last week.
The Dane was paraded in front of an expectant Old Trafford crowd ahead of the friendly game against RC Lens on Saturday and fans would have hoped to see him in action during the Premier League opener against Wolves.
It is well-known that United currently have very limited firepower up front with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho the only options at Erik ten Hag’s disposal with Anthony Martial still injured.
Rasmus injury update
But as reported by The Peoples Person, the 20-year-old suffered a minor back injury and it was diagnosed to be worse than earlier thought and he is expected to miss a couple of weeks.
The striker has been diagnosed with having a stress response hotspot in his back and that is usually the onset of stress fractures for athletes.
Such issues require careful handling and United do not want to rush the youngster and risk losing him for an even longer time.
The club have not put a definitive timeline for his return but as per The Athletic, United are hopeful that Hojlund can be available for the game against Arsenal which is scheduled for September 3.
“Manchester United are targeting their trip to Arsenal on September 3 as a potential debut date for Rasmus Hojlund.
Debut vs Arsenal
“He is on an individual training programme — he was running on grass at Carrington on Tuesday — and staff hope he will be fit for the visit to the Emirates in less than a month.”
After the Wolves game, United are set to travel to North London to face Tottenham Hotspur before returning home to face Nottingham Forest before the Arsenal game.
Erik ten Hag said: “It is difficult to say how that process will go, but I think he is making good progress in this moment, then we have to see day by day. Then we have to follow up.”
United agreed a fee with Atalanta of €75m plus €10m in add-ons for Hojlund, who scored nine goals in Serie A last season.
