Why Brentford boss Thomas Frank is ‘happy’ to see Man Utd star’s impressive form

Thomas Frank has said he is happy to see fellow Dane Rasmus Hojlund scoring goals for Manchester United, despite his side travelling to Old Trafford this weekend.

Hojlund joined the Red Devils over the summer in a deal worth up to £72m, and has impressed since making his debut just over a month ago. The striker has scored three goals in five starts for the club, all of which have come in the Champions League. Indeed, the 20-year-old is the top scorer in the competition at this early stage of the campaign.

But it’s more than just the goals, and United fans have been encouraged by the ex-Atalanta star’s pace, hold-up play and work rate, in what has been such a disappointing start to the season for the Red Devils. Hojlund was the star performer in the midweek loss to Galatasaray, as he scored twice and saw another ruled out for a marginal offside.

The Danish forward will come up against four international team-mates this weekend when Brentford make the trip to Old Trafford for the final Premier League game before the international break, as well as Frank, who said before the match that he is delighted to see Hojlund has adapted so quickly to English football.

“He's scoring goals. I know he’s not playing for Brentford, but I’m Danish and I'm happy that a Danish player is coming through and doing well,” explained the Bees boss on Friday.

“I must say, it was an impressive performance for him against Galatasaray, two very good goals. He looks like he's in a very good place.  But hopefully we can keep him quiet on Saturday. That’s the aim.” 

“We need to be aware of not giving him too much space to run into; he’s quick and he’s good with the timing of his runs,” Frank added. “We need to see the situations early and try to stop the balls into him - that's definitely a key area for us.” 

Like United, Brentford have not enjoyed a good start to the new season and have won just once in their opening seven matches. The London club head into the weekend two points behind 10th-place United.