Man Utd about to bank €80m from Rashford and Hojlund – and still lose big

Robin Bairner

• 6 Mar 2026 07:50 GMT
• 5 min read

News

Manchester United are on the verge of completing the double sale of Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford to Napoli and Barcelona respectively, but while the Old Trafford side are set to rake in €80 million, this will serve to underline past mistakes.

According to Fabrizio Romano, United are banking on an €80m income from the duo, who have spent the season away on loan this term.

Neither was prominent in the plans of Ruben Amorim, and even with the Portuguese sacked by Man Utd in January, the future of the attacking pair lies elsewhere.

Compared

Marcus Rashford

F, M (L)

Barcelona

Marcus Rashford

F, M (L)

Barcelona

VS

Rasmus Højlund

F (C)

Napoli

Rasmus Højlund

F (C)

Napoli

€52.2M	ETV	€55.1M
€39.2M - €65.3M	ETV Range	€49.6M - €60.6M
28 years old (31 Oct, 1997)	Age	23 years old (04 Feb, 2003)
England	Nationality	Denmark

Romano confirms Man Utd transfer plans

Romano, speaking on his YouTube channel, confirmed the deals are progressing positively.

“Man Utd are counting on €80m income from Hojlund and Rashford,” the transfer influencer explained. “For Hojlund, Napoli already paid a €6m loan fee, and Napoli are fully expected to pay the €44m option-to-buy clause in the summer.

“Napoli are very happy with Hojlund, he is very happy at Napoli, and the expectation is for them to continue together. So if nothing crazy happens, Man United can count on €50m total package for Rasmus Hojlund.

“Then €30m from Rashford, because at the end, Manchester United believe that Barcelona will be able to make the deal permanent for Rashford. They are still talking club-to-club, and it will take some time financially for Barcelona to progress in an official way. But with the agents of Marcus Rashford, there is already an agreement.”

Man Utd’s dramatic overpayment for Hojlund

The decision to sign Hojlund for €78m from Atalanta in 2023 is set to haunt United. At the time, he had an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €34.4m – less than half what the club paid for him to sign a six-year contract.

Around €26m of his transfer fee has been amortised meaning, from an accountancy standpoint, Man Utd still owe approximately €52m – a figure (slightly) greater than the transfer fee they will get for the 23-year-old. This means he will go down as a small loss in the books but an even bigger loss in real terms.

Throw in the context of Rashford leaving, and this deal looks even bleaker.

Man Utd are set to sell both players for around €2m more than they spent on Hojlund alone.

Ineos’ €25m transfer blunder

While Ineos cannot shoulder the blame for Hojlund’s excessive transfer fee, Man Utd’s sporting overlords have struck agreements to offload the pair at below-market rates.

Rashford, in particular, is set to be sold for far less than his true worth. Barcelona have struck and agreement to sign him for €30m, but his ETC stands at €52.2m.

Hojlund is not such an extreme example, with Napoli set to pay a total of €50m for the forward, who has an ETV of €55m.

Man Utd must learn lessons

Man Utd’s issue here is twofold: firstly, Hojlund was bought for a fee far in excess of his ETV.

Secondly, the club are set to sell two of their assets for a figure below that market value. In doing so, Ineos are set to miss out on a potential windfall €25m greater than the €80m they will receive for the Dane and Rashford combined.

It’s entirely out of his control, but Hojlund has come to represent much of what has gone wrong with Man Utd’s transfer policy in the modern era.

Ineos appear to be making strides in the right direction, but this double deal is proof that there’s still some way to go.

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