Rasmus Winther Højlund (; born 4 February 2003) is a Danish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and the Denmark national team. Højlund graduated from

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

's youth academy, making his first-team debut for the club aged 17 in October 2020. After scoring five goals in 32 appearances for Copenhagen, he joined Austrian club Sturm Graz in January 2022. Later that year, he was signed by

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

for €17 million. Højlund played youth international football for Denmark from under-16 to under-21 level. He made his senior international debut in September 2022.

Club career

Copenhagen

Højlund was born in

and grew up in Hørsholm,

Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

. He played youth football for and Brøndby, before joining

's youth system. He made his professional debut for Copenhagen at the age of 17 on 25 October 2020. During the 2021–22 season, he made his debut in European competitions, contributing five goals in the UEFA Europa Conference League across qualification rounds and the tournament proper.

Sturm Graz

In January 2022, Højlund joined

Austrian Bundesliga The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...

club Sturm Graz for a reported fee of €1.8 million. He scored 12 goals in 21 games across all competitions during the remainder of the 2021–22 season and the start of the 2022–23 season.

Atalanta

On 27 August 2022, Højlund signed with

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

in a deal worth a reported €17 million. He scored his first goal for Atalanta on 5 September in a 2–0 away win over

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

. Initially confined to a substitute role at the beginning of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

, he carved out a place for himself in the squad due to the poor form and injuries of usual starter, Duván Zapata. In January 2023, he went on to deliver several convincing performances, notably scoring four goals in four consecutive games.

Manchester United

On 29 July,

side

agreed a deal to sign Højlund from Atalanta for an initial £64 million fee plus £8 million in performance related add-ons, with the player agreeing a five-year deal with the option of an extra year. He was then announced officially as a United player on 5 August 2023, subject to international clearance. Højlund made his debut on 3 September, replacing Anthony Martial in the 67th minute of a Premier League match against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, which ended in a 3–1 defeat. On 20 September, Højlund scored his first goal for the club in a 4–3 away defeat against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

in the opening match of the 2023–24 Champions League. In United's second Champions League fixture against Galatasaray at Old Trafford, he scored twice as United lost 3–2, and was named man of the match despite the loss. On 8 November, Højlund scored twice on his return to

Parken Parken Stadium, also known simply as Parken and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990 to 1992. The stadium, which features a retractable ...

in a 4–3 defeat to his former club

. He became youngest player to score twice in an away Champions League match for Manchester United. On 26 December, Højlund scored his first Premier League goal, scoring the winning goal in a 3–2 victory over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. On 4 February 2024, Højlund scored the opener in Manchester United's 3–0 victory over West Ham United, which coincided with his 21st birthday. A week later on 11 February, Højlund scored against Aston Villa in a 2–1 away victory. In doing so, he became the second-youngest player to ever score in five successive Premier League appearances, only behind Nicolas Anelka. On 18 February, Højlund scored a brace in a 2–1 victory over Luton Town, making him the youngest player to score in six consecutive Premier League games ahead of Joe Willock's previous record. After his performances in February, Højlund won the Premier League Player of the Month, becoming the first Danish player in Premier League history to win the award. On 21 April, Højlund scored the decisive penalty to send Manchester United to the 2024 FA Cup final during an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

semi-final match against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

that ended in a 3–3 draw after extra time. In the final on 25 May, Højlund won his first trophy with the club as he featured as a late substitute for Marcus Rashford, helping secure a 2–1 victory over local rivals

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

International career

In September 2022, Højlund played his first international matches for

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

during the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

, debuting against the former opponent on 1 September. On 23 March 2023, he made his first international start, scoring a hat-trick in a 3–1 victory against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

during the

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament is an upcoming Association football, football competition that will be played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that will join the automatically qualified ...

, his first goals for his country. He ended the qualification phase as Denmark's top-scorer with seven goals.Højlund was selected for Denmark's UEFA Euro 2024 squad, debuting in their opening fixture against Slovenia.

Personal life

His younger twin brothers,

Emil Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...

and Oscar, are both footballers with the former currently playing for 2. Bundesliga side Schalke 04 and the latter, top German division club Eintracht Frankfurt.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Denmark score listed first, score column indicates score after each Højlund goal.''

Honours

Copenhagen *

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

: 2021–22 Manchester United *

: 2023–24 Individual *Danish Talent of the Year: 2023 * IFFHS Men's World Youth (U20) Team: 2023 * Premier League Player of the Month: February 2024

References

External links

Profile
at the Manchester United website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Höjlund, Rasmus 2003 births Living people Danish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Boldklubben af 1893 players Brøndby IF players F.C. Copenhagen players Holbæk B&I players SK Sturm Graz players Atalanta BC players Manchester United F.C. players Danish Superliga players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Serie A players Denmark men's youth international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Denmark men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2024 players Danish expatriate men's footballers Danish expatriate sportspeople in Austria Danish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England Footballers from Copenhagen People from Hørsholm Municipality 21st-century Danish sportsmen Premier League players