There’s nobody in world football right now who is quite like Erling Haaland – or so we thought.A young Atalanta forward by the name of Rasmus Hojlund is turning plenty of heads in Serie A this season, with some observers even convinced that the 20-year-old is ‘Haaland 2.0’.
Such is the hype surrounding the young phenom that Arsenal and Real Madrid have both been linked with the forward, who only joined Atalanta last summer in a £15 million deal from Austrian club Sturm Graz.
But why are so many people talking about Hojlund in such glowing terms? Well, the video below might give you a bit more insight into what makes him such a special talent.
Hojlund hasn’t been prolific in his first season in Italy, but six goals in 22Serie Aappearances, including two assists, is not a bad haul for a 20-year-old in his first season with a new club.
One of the first people to compare the Dane – who has already represented his country at senior level – to that of Haaland is current Atalanta coach, Gian Piero Gasperini.
The Italian said of his young forward (via the Daily Star): “The characteristics are very similar [between Hojlund and Haaland], especially in accelerations.
“He is a very fast player, he does the 100 meters in less than 11 seconds. For his height, he has a low centre of gravity and an incredible stride frequency.
“I’m convinced he will have a great career. Technically, he always shows different and better things.”
Hojlund isn’t quite as tall as his Scandinavian peer, but standing at 1.85m (6 ft 1in) he is certainly a threat in the air as well as across the ground.
According to a recent report, Real Madrid are the early front-runners to sign the marksman, having missed out on Erling Haaland last summer.
Spanish outletLa Republiccasuggest that Los Blancos could be in the market for a striker this summer, as Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema moves into the final phase of his illustrious career.
The report does also state that Arsenal are interested in Hojlund, although there is no suggestion over how much Atalanta would demand in order to sanction the player’s sale.
Time will tell whether the Denmark international can go on to emulate Haaland, but one thing is for sure; just like the Manchester City star, he has every attribute needed to be a world class striker.