Man Utd striker Rasmus Hojlund “will have to have an unbelievable pre-season” in order to remain at Old Trafford, according to Troy Deeney.
The Red Devils are having a rotten season in the Premier League with Ruben Amorim’s side currently 13th in the Premier League ahead of their clash against Newcastle on Sunday.
Only five teams in the Premier League have scored fewer goals than Man Utd with their forward line proving to be one of their main issues this season.
Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have only scored three Premier League goals each this season and the former went on a run of 21 matches in all competitions without scoring earlier in the campaign.
Denmark international Hojlund has been putting in particularly poor performances for most of the season and there have been rumours that Man Utd could look to offload him in the summer.
And now former Premier League striker Deeney reckons the 22-year-old faces an uncertain future after his “awful” display as Man Utd drew 2-2 against Lyon in the Europa League in midweek.
Deeney told talkSPORT: “Based on what I saw from Hojlund against Lyon, I may as well get fit. No joke, he was awful.
“He looked confused, he looked lost. His skill-set is running behind and getting pot-shots off as quick as he can. He ran to players, he was marking himself as opposed to a defender marking him.
“As a striker, we’re always told if a striker can touch you and feel you, then you’re in the wrong position. He was running to the defender.
“I just think based on that, he was awful. The thing is, you can have off days in terms of scoring and have a low year.
“But he was getting bullied. It looks like the pressure is getting to him. So he will have to have an unbelievable pre-season to stay there.”
Hojlund could now be dropped by Man Utd boss Amorim for Zirkzee and Deeney added: “Obviously he had that tough time earlier in the season when he got dragged (against Newcastle) and laughed at.
“Since then, he’s just shown a resilience of, ‘No, I’ll show you’. I’m disappointed for him because if Onana hadn’t made those mistakes we’d be talking about how great of a performance it was from Zirkzee.
“The conversation will now be is Zirkzee about go on this run and are we going to see his full potential?”