How can a striker who scored five goals in 32 games for Copenhagen, 12 goals in 21 games for Sturm Graz and ten goals in 34 games for Atalanta be worth £64million? Answer: he joined the same agency that represented the Manchester United manager.

The question could be a joke with that punchline. One only needed to glance at Rasmus Hojlund's modest goalscoring record in three weaker leagues to know he should never have been bought by United.

No scouting was required. Hojlund was 20-and-a-half when he was paraded on the Old Trafford pitch. United's preferred target, Harry Kane, was ten years older.

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United had vowed not to spend more than £60m on Hojlund. Agency sources valued him at between £20m and £30m. West Ham United were touted as possible suitors before United shortlisted Hojlund in the spring of 2023. Intermediaries who negotiated the Hojlund deal have privately admitted their embarrassment.

As the film critic Mark Kermode says before he enters a screening room, one has to go in with an open mind. Erik ten Hag sold Hojlund impressively, describing him as unique in a conversation with confidants on the day United agreed a fee rising to £72m with Atalanta.

Hojlund was quick, smart and physical, Ten Hag argued. He felt Hojlund had the "smell" to make runs into the box. Ten Hag trumpeted Hojlund's purportedly proven goalscoring record and cited his goals for Denmark.

As of July 2023, Hojlund had pillaged six goals in his first six games for Denmark, netting a hat-trick against Finland, two against Kazakhstan and an equaliser against Slovenia in European Championship qualifiers. Since Hojlund joined United, he has managed one goal in 16 for Denmark and is goalless in his past 12 appearances.

Ten Hag assured his confidants that Hojlund had the character to deal with the "stress" of leading the line for United. Look again at his Denmark record before and after joining United and you know Ten Hag is wrong. Hojlund, overpriced and overpromoted as United's No.9, is averaging a goal every four games in 2024-25.

In retrospect, Ten Hag's first bout of delusion as United manager came when he settled on Hojlund as the alternative to Kane. One was naturally sceptical when it emerged Hojlund had agreed to join the SEG International agency that Ten Hag was a client of on the eve of his transfer.

Hojlund turns 22 next week. The Premier League is the fourth European league he has played in and he has played at a European Championship. He is not a spring chicken.

His drought stretched to 11 games by the River Thames on Sunday. Hojlund has completed 90 minutes once during that stretch and he has as many Premier League goal involvements as Ederson, a goalkeeper, this season. He has not lasted an hour on his last two starts.

Scandinavian United fans can be sensitive about opprobrium towards their countrymen. A Scandinavian contact suggested Hojlund's younger brother, Oscar, is the most talented of the three footballing siblings. Oscar moved to Eintracht Frankfurt last year while Emil, his twin, joined Schalke.

This also sounds like a joke: there's a Norwegian striker, a Swedish striker and a Danish striker and United signed the weakest one for the biggest fee. Erling Haaland was unattainable in 2022 but Alexander Isak was gettable. Hojlund cost £11m more than Isak 12 months later.

Ten Hag billed Hojlund as unique but also conceded there were "deficits". His inability to retain the ball and eschew duels with defenders certainly are. Match of the Day 2 pundits Thomas Hitzlsperger and Shay Given went to town on his hopeless hold-up play against Fulham. United supporters were audibly exasperated with Hojlund during the salvage operation against Southampton at Old Trafford.

Amorim does not believe in Hojlund or Joshua Zirkzee. Both have been substituted before the hour after losing aerial balls with United losing. Zirkzee seems to hit a force field whenever he approaches the penalty area but he does at least keep the ball. Hojlund loses it.

Hojlund is committed and his kit is always muddied when he comes off. That is now often through defenders leaving him face down in the turf.

"He wants it really hard and you can see it sometimes that without training, there is a disconnection," Amorim admitted. "We can explain but without training sometimes it goes away when he should be near. Sometimes he’s near when he should make a run.

"We don’t have time to make this connection, we don’t train these kinds of things, we just talk about these things. He has a lot to improve, like his teammates. Sometimes you have a good game, other days you cannot have a good performance.

"The important thing is that I see every day that he wants it really bad. He talks about that [he] wants to train a little bit more in the end of trainings and that is the best thing to improve."

Amorim was played a hospital pass with this United squad and he is saddled with two strikers who cost £108.5m between them. The 2023 summer transfer window is destined to go down as one of United's most infamous and it has set them so far back they remain marooned in the bottom half of the Premier League table with a minus goal difference.

Hojlund had no support last season and he has gotten worse with support this season. Sixteen goals was a creditable tally while Anthony Martial put his feet up in the physio room for five months. Zirkzee is an alternative to ease the workload but it is not working out with Hojlund.

An upside of Hojlund's drought is his Instagram activity has subsided. He has patently hired a social media manager to curry favour with United's avid online following and boost his engagement on social media. Hojlund spectacularly misread the room after United's chaotic draw with Porto in October and he then uploaded a story to clarify his tone-deaf post.

He is not the only United player who could be mistaken for an influencer through his online persona. Hojlund's upload was not hugely offensive but it was naïve after a 91st-minute equaliser spared United of defeat. He is a good character in the dressing room but that authenticity is questionable when others are curating his online profile.

And he risks becoming the punchline.