On Tuesday night, Rasmus Hojlund—who Manchester United paid £72 million for—went into the city with his girlfriend to spend the evening getting settled in to his new residence. 

The transfer of Hojlund to Old Trafford was completed last week following extensive negotiations with his former team, Atalanta. It has come to light, though, that the Danish striker is recovering from a back issue, which will limit his playing time when the season begins.

An MRI scan as part of his medical examination revealed a back stress response hotspot. He will be unable to participate in United’s opening two games against Wolves and Tottenham due to a stress fracture, which is indicative of an injury in young athletes.

But while he and his fiancee Laura Sondergaard explored Manchester’s nightlife, the 20-year-old attempted to put the bad news out of his mind. 

In a white jacket, blue pants, and white sneakers, Hojlund walked from the Lowry Hotel into the city center. 

Sondergaard walked next to Hojlund while wearing a leather jacket over a white sweater and pants. She smiled at him as she did so.

The Danish player then waved at the camera when he saw them and went on with his night out. 

Sondergaard, Hojlund’s partner, is known to come to a lot of his games and cheer him on. They were even seen kissing after he scored a hat trick for Denmark against Finland in March.

Sondergaard has almost 9,000 Instagram fans, and she often posts pictures from her beautiful vacations. 

Hojlund will be hoping that his back problem doesn’t keep him out of too many United games as he tries to make a name for himself at Old Trafford.

After a lot of tests during Hojlund’s medical, United is sure that there is nothing seriously wrong with his back and that all he needs is some rest.

After Hojlund’s MRI last week, the club’s first move was to give him more time to get fit and ensure him that he is a long-term signing and will not be rushed into the team.

Mail Sport spoke to doctors outside of the club, who said that these kinds of injuries need to be carefully managed. They also said that Hojlund probably won’t be able to play two games a week for a while because he might end up with a stress fracture, which would require a long recovery time.

In his first game with the first team, FC Copenhagen’s Academy, he was 17. He was then sold to Sturm Graz in Austria in January 2022 and then to Atalanta in August 2022 for £15 million.

United paid almost five times that amount a year later, even though Chelsea, PSG, Juventus, and Inter Milan were also interested. They decided to go ahead with the signing even though they found out about the back problem during the medical. 

With Hojlund’s ability to score goals, Ten Hag hopes to build a new attack around him. United has given him a five-year contract with a chance to add one more year.