Roy Keane has savaged Rasmus Hojlund, Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho and suggested almost every Manchester United player could leave if any clubs want them – but Ruben Amorim defended the Denmark striker after he drew another blank at Chelsea.
Marc Cucurella’s 71st-minute header proved the only goal of the Premier League game at Stamford Bridge as United prefaced their Europa League final against Tottenham in Bilbao on Wednesday (20:00 BST) with their 18th league defeat of the season, producing a solitary shot on target.
“Garnacho just runs by him,” United legend Keane said of Cucurella’s winner, speaking to Sky Sports. “He doesn’t tackle him, he’s not aggressive.
“They’ve got no striker. [Hojlund] looked like a young kid for Chelsea who’d just come out of the academy. His runs weren’t right, his timing, his hold-up play.
“We keep making excuses for him and talking about confidence but when you’re a striker up there, you’ve got to make something happen sometimes.”
🗣️”He looked like he’s just come out of the Academy”
Roy Keane was not impressed with Rasmus Hojlund vs Chelsea… pic.twitter.com/PKOFwKfuA8
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 16, 2025
Rasmus Hojlund stats: ‘Not good enough’
Hojlund joined United for a fee worth up to £72 million from Atalanta in August 2023 but has scored only four times in 31 league games this season, including a 13-game run without a top-flight goal lasting more than three months.
“The big clubs and United have always had strikers who can create something even when they’re not getting great service because they’ve got a bit of quality, desire, determination, experience, football intelligence,” said Keane, who won the title seven times at the club between 1994 and 2003.
“We don’t see that with Hojlund. He needs a little bit of support but my goodness, sometimes you’ve got to do a bit better.
“Hojlund should be a third or fourth-choice striker and learn his trade off brilliant strikers. He’s not good enough to be the main man. He’s lacking in confidence and belief, and he’s not surrounded by brilliance, either.”
Amorim: Hojlund ‘improving’
United manager Ruben Amorim said he was “really happy” with Hojlund, who is part of a team on a seven-game winless league run.
“All the team has to improve but [I like] the way he runs, fights for every ball and loses a lot of duels, wins some duels,” added the Portuguese, who was appointed in November but has accepted he could leave the club if results do not improve soon.
“He needs to improve the connection, but he’s improving. He just needs to continue to work hard and better days will come.”
“It helped me to choose the starting XI” 👀
Ruben Amorim on what Man Utd learned from their loss to Chelsea ahead of the Europa League final 🏆 pic.twitter.com/YDVFkkobqb
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 16, 2025
Man United transfers
Keane struggled to name a United player who would not be available for the right price this summer, which will precede a Champions League campaign if they win the Europa League.
“Bruno [Fernandes] springs to mind because he’s a brilliant player,” said the former United captain. “There’s talk about Garnacho, you look at [Harry] Maguire.
“There’s a big decision on the goalkeeper [Andre Onana]. You need a world-class striker. But it’s who comes in for these players.
“Garnacho, Mainoo, Hojlund – I wouldn’t be hanging my hat on those three. Mainoo was strolling around the place, some of his passes were sloppy. Garnacho is immature… he doesn’t turn up week in, week out.”
England defender Maguire had a masterful early finish ruled out for offside against Chelsea, meeting Bruno Fernandes’ delivery from the left with a thunderous first-time strike inside the box before his celebrations were eventually deemed futile following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and semi-automated offside check.
