Tottenham considered signing 20-year-old star before Manchester United transfer this summer

Tottenham Hotspur had former Atalanta ace Rasmus Hojlund on their transfer wish list before he moved to Manchester United

Manchester United had a clear focus on finding a centre-forward during the summer transfer window.

After an extensive search, they secured the services of Rasmus Hojlund, signing him from Atalanta for a fee of £72 million under the leadership of Erik ten Hag.

Nevertheless, the outcome might have been completely different if the former Serie A star had chosen to move to another club.

The Athletic (subscription required) has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur, a Premier League rival of Man United, expressed interest in signing the Danish ace.

The Lilywhites were preparing for the departure of Harry Kane during the summer transfer window, and Hojlund was considered as a possible replacement for the English captain.

Eventually, Kane did leave London, completing a transfer to Bayern Munich for a huge sum of £100m. However, by that point, Hojlund had already decided to move to Manchester and was committed to joining the Red Devils.

The Old Trafford outfit reached an agreement with the 20-year-old player. He has been assigned the role of leading United’s attack during Ten Hag’s second season as the club’s manager.

It’s worth noting that even after Tottenham inquired about the youngster, Hojlund had a strong desire to join Man United from the beginning, and it’s likely that Spurs would have found his price tag quite steep.

In the end, Ange Postecoglou’s side decided to sign Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest in a £47m deal on the deadline day and chose not to bring in any other highly-priced striker.

Johnson had an impressive track record in terms of goal-scoring. In one season, he scored 13 goals for Lincoln, followed by 19 goals in his debut season as a regular player for Forest, and then an additional 10 goals in the last season.

These numbers are impressive because he wasn’t primarily playing as a forward; instead, he often played in wider positions.

Still, it remains to be seen whether the Lilywhites will regret missing out on Hojlund even after having Richarlison as their main striker, followed by a place for their new signing in the team.

They have been doing great in the Premier League this season with the players at their disposal. No doubt, losing a player like Kane is difficult to swallow, and it is a challenging task to find someone who can replace his goal-scoring duties.

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• Peter Crouch explains how the reaction to the Harry Kane saga is impressing him at Tottenham
• Alasdair Gold reveals Tottenham fought off offers to retain Mikey Moore and Callum Olusesi

There might be a chance that they could consider more options if the current bunch of players fail to live up to expectations in this campaign.