Manchester United approached last summer's transfer window with a clear objective: to overhaul an attack that produced only 44 Premier League goals last season.

After securing the signings of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, the club completed the rebuild by bringing in Benjamin Šeško for £74 million, ending a pursuit that had spanned several years.

To help fund this transformation of the forward line, several players were shown the exit door, both permanently and on loan.

Last summer saw the exits of the likes of Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, and Antony as the club looked to rectify the distinct lack of fire power up top.

Another player who saw the exit door at Old Trafford was Rasmus Højlund, who completed a loan deal to Napoli fresh off the bat of a disappointing season in front of goal, scoring 10 goals across 52 appearances in all competitions.

The Danish forward joined the Italian giants for an initial loan fee of around £5 million, which also included a conditional obligation to buy the 23-year-old for £39 million should Napoli qualify for Champions League football this season.

Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, Ryan Giggs believes that Højlund deserves a second chance at Old Trafford, insisting that he didn't get the opportunity to shine under Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim.

When Giggs was asked about whether Michael Carrick should keep any of their on-loan stars, he said, "Maybe Højlund, maybe. I thought he was unlucky; he was just the only centre forward at the club.

"Everyone expected him to come in and do great. I think Šeško gets more chances and scores more goals.

"But you never know, if you’ve got two young, hungry centre forwards up front and say fight it out.

"You see, at United, that’s always been a strength. I say training is harder than the games, if you’ve United centre halves at one end marking Šeško, it’s going to be competitive."

It is highly likely that Carrick may have no say in where Højlund will be playing his football next season, with Napoli very likely to qualify for the Champions League this season.

With just five games to go, Napoli find themselves third in the Serie A, holding an eight-point cushion over Como in fifth.

When the Danish striker moved to Manchester in the summer of 2023, not many thought that the 20-year-old would immediately be leading the line, but with the club failing to sign a more experienced forward option, the then 20-year-old spearheaded the attack, scoring 16 goals in 43 appearances.

Competition for Højlund, in Joshua Zirkzee was brought in to stir up competition between the pair, but neither failed to establish themselves as capable of leading the forward line into the future, thus the significant spending on the forward line last summer.

As United look to fund a major midfield rebuild this summer, the £38 million recouped from the Dane's permanent sale would be a great help to secure the signings of a number of reinforcements in the middle of the pitch.