Manchester United have been warned against reading too much into Rasmus Hojlund's debut after Mykhailo Mudryk's struggles at Chelsea.
The £72million signing arrived at Old Trafford carrying an injury, delaying his first minutes until a half-hour cameo in Sunday's defeat at Arsenal.
An energic Hojlund impressed after replacing the ineffectual Anthony Martial, almost winning a penalty and helping set up Alejandro Garnacho for a late winner only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.
Paul Merson has joined the growing number of Hojlund admirers, but was sure to bring the fanbase back down to earth in his latest column for Sky Sports.
He wrote: "The Sir Alex Ferguson days are long gone. They’re as far away from winning the league as you’ll ever see. I know everyone’s a long way off Manchester City but they’re a million miles off.
"You forget they’re one of the biggest teams in the world. Man Utd can’t even stump up £7m for Marc Cucurella. They’re taking a player [Sergio Reguilon] that can’t even play for Tottenham.
“They’ve got the Jadon Sancho thing now as well. Just keep it in-house.
“Rasmus Hojlund looked good – a right handful. But that was for 20 minutes. I saw Mykhailo Mudryk for 20 minutes at Liverpool in January and I haven’t seen him since."
Chelsea beat Arsenal to the £88million signing of Mudryk in January but, after a lively debut, is still yet to register his first goal or assist for the club.
