Man Utd are paying price for ignoring Gary Neville's 'clever' suggestion for improving Rasmus Hojlund

Manchester United are now paying the price for ignoring Gary Neville's advice on struggling striker Rasmus Hojlund.

Hojlund, 20, joined United from Atalanta in the summer in a deal worth up to £72m including potential add-ons.

But he has so far failed to live up to expectations since arriving at Old Trafford.

Hojlund is yet to score or provide an assist in 14 Premier League appearances.

He has managed to score five times since joining the club, all of his goals coming in the Champions League.

But that was not enough to prevent Erik ten Hag's side from finishing bottom of their group.

Speaking shortly after Hojlund joined the club in July, former United captain Neville expressed his concern over whether the Denmark international was experienced enough to be the first-choice striker at Old Trafford.

Neville called on his former club to sign then Tottenham forward Harry Kane, who eventually moved to Bayern Munich instead.

Speaking prior to Kane's move to Bayern, Neville said on The Overlap: "I hope they're [Manchester United] being clever, and Kane's being clever, and they're waiting to get a deal whereby they agree a deal with Munich, he says 'no I'm not going, and I want to go to United'.

"United need Kane, they still need the young lad as well [Hojlund] to back him up and bed in and play his 25/30 games because he didn't play every game for Atalanta last season.

Gary Neville wanted Manchester United to sign Harry Kane (Image: Getty)

"I'm worried that we’ve got this kid up front that to be fair, has massive pressure on his shoulders.

"Everyone's going to be watching him, he needs that pressure taken off him a bit. Kane puts United into that sort of realm of catching Arsenal and City."

Kane has hit the ground running in Germany and has already managed 25 goals in just 22 games for Bayern, who are currently second in the Bundesliga behind Bayer Leverkusen.

United, meanwhile, are now eighth in the Premier League and face a difficult test against high-flying Aston Villa on Boxing Day.

Topics: Football, Gary Neville, Manchester United, Premier League, Rasmus Hojlund, Harry Kane

Rory O'Callaghan

Rory O'Callaghan is Editorial Lead at SPORTbible. He has previously worked for Sky Sports News, MailOnline and Reach covering football, cricket, boxing and MMA. Tested daily as a Liverpool fan in a Manchester office.

@rory_ocallaghan