We all have that friend who lies about how much they can deadlift in the gym. The one with a fabricated county school hat-trick, and all those rugby medals that conveniently go missing whenever you ask for proof. There can be few doubts now, at least, about Rasmus Hojlund’s claim that he is capable of running 100 metres in just 11 seconds.
In the blink of an eye, Atalanta’s £17 million summer signing breezed from the centre circle to the edge of the Lazio box during the recent 2-0 triumph at the Stadio Olimpico. If we didn’t know better, we’d suggest that Hojlund had invented teleportation.
In fact, if you squinted a little, you’d have been forgiven for wondering if Manchester City had, for some reason, sent Erling Haaland on loan to the Serie A outfit. The similarities between Hojlund and Haaland, it seems, are not limited to their surnames, their Scandinavian roots, or their shock of platinum locks.
“Hojlund has this spirit, energy, intensity, but also technical quality that is just remarkable,” La Dea coach Gian Piero Gasperini says of his very own blonde bomber (TMW).
“He still has so much margin for improvement, too. He has very similar characteristics to Haaland. Not just his face! He is so quick. He’s under 11 seconds over 100m and that’s not even trying very hard.
“Considering his height, he has a low centre of gravity and can move his legs very fast. I am convinced he’ll have a great career. He just gets stronger every day.”
COULD RASMUS HOJLUND BE THE SECOND COMING OF ERLING HAALAND?
A fearsome thought. Hojlund might not possess his near-namesake’s almost cartoonish goalscoring ability. But almost every other attribute is present and accounted for. The prodigious power, the perpetual movement and, above all, that truly blistering speed.
“(Can I run) 100 meters in under 11 seconds?’” Hojlund muses. “Yes, that’s true.”
According to The Chronicle, Newcastle United are keeping very close tabs on the former Sturm Graz striker. As are Arsenal (La Repubblica). And you can see why. There may be only one Haaland, but Hojlund is performing a very passable impression in Serie A.
Imagine, for a second, that you are a Premier League defender going toe-to-toe with Mikel Arteta’s Premier League leaders at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal break and, in a flash, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Rasmus Hojlund are descending upon you; the Red Arrows in human form.
The thought alone is enough to twinge the hamstrings.
