United sold Hojlund to Napoli for £43m despite CIES valuing striker at £110m

Manchester United recouped just £43.2 million from the permanent sale of Rasmus Hojlund to Napoli this summer, a figure that looks increasingly difficult to justify after CIES Football Observatory placed the Danish striker’s current market value at £110 million — a gap of nearly £67 million.

Hojlund arrived at Old Trafford from Atalanta in 2023 in a deal worth up to £72 million, carrying significant expectations. His debut Premier League season offered some encouragement — 10 goals in 30 appearances — but 2024/25 proved damaging to his standing at the club. United finished 15th in the table, and Hojlund contributed only four goals in 32 games, with strike partner Joshua Zirkzee managing just two in 24.

Despite publicly expressing a desire to stay and compete for his place, Hojlund was sent out on loan to Napoli for the 2025/26 campaign, with the Italian club holding an obligation to sign him permanently for £43.2 million provided certain conditions were met. Those conditions were satisfied: Hojlund scored 12 goals and registered six assists in Serie A alone, prompting Napoli to exercise the clause.

The CIES Football Observatory’s valuation methodology accounts for the financial capacity of the most likely buying club, applying a range of 7.5 percent above and below a player’s assessed worth, while factoring in 100 percent of economic rights — including add-ons — and inflation across the past two transfer windows. Buy-out clauses are excluded from their calculations. On that basis, the analysts arrived at a figure of £110 million for Hojlund.

The disparity raises questions about the terms United agreed when structuring the loan-to-buy arrangement, particularly given that Hojlund’s Serie A form has demonstrated the quality that his Premier League spell largely obscured. At 23, the striker still has considerable development ahead of him, and his output in Italy is likely to attract attention from other top European clubs if he maintains his current level.

For United, the proceeds from the sale may be directed toward recruiting a new centre-forward before the summer transfer window closes, with the club understood to be active in the market for attacking reinforcements.