Rasmus Hojlund was always walking into a difficult job at Manchester United and his early struggles are of no surprise.

Being signed as the new United top striker already comes with immense pressure but the circumstances of Hojlund's signing are even more so. The Dane arrived at a time when United haven't need a quality striker to guarantee goals more.

Erik ten Hag's side struggled to score last season and that was even when Marcus Rashford was on top form. Who did United burden with the task of delivering those goals? A 20-year-old kid with a lot of potential but only nine goals in Serie A. Oh, and they committed to pay upwards of PS72million for him. A staggering amount for such an unproven prospect.

That sort of price tag has worn heavy on many a footballer - look at half of the United squad - and expectations of that fee are not yet being reached. To add to all that, Harry Kane finally left Tottenham this summer and United didn't even attempt to sign the player who was supposedly their top target.

Kane, predictably, has enjoyed a sensational start at Bayern Munich, where he has already racked up a record 15 goals in his first 10 Bundesliga matches. In contrast, Hojlund is yet to even score in the Premier League.

It's not a completely fair reflection of the striker's start to life in Manchester. Hojlund has been thrown into a team lacking confidence or cohesion and has at least shown a lot of promise. His pace, strength and touch in the final third have been promising, especially in the defeat to Galatasaray.

Yet, he was brought in to score goals and he simply has not delivered enough of them yet. It's not all his fault given the service into him is often non-existent but he needs to be doing more.

Daniel Sturridge analysed Hojlund's early showings on Monday Night Football and believes developing his relationship with Bruno Fernandes will be key for an upturn in fortunes. "I do think that he (Hojlund) has got great potential," he said on Sky Sports.

"I think he does make good runs, but I just think that he's not getting as many opportunities as he would like. Of course, you've got (Marcus) Rashford playing on the left side and rightfully so, he should be shooting from that area because that's what he is known for and he has been scoring goals.

"You think here at this moment, if he (Hojlund) had a relationship with Bruno (Fernandes) and they are going to build that relationship over time, maybe he plays that ball in behind. He's made that run off the defender, he's looked over his left and he is on the right shoulder, and clearly the ball across the box isn't great and it would have had to have been a perfect cross to be a goal. I don't think he can do much there.

"Over time, it will change. He has to have those conversations and tell them what he likes. We know Rashy has the ability to manipulate the ball and score goals, we know Bruno Fernandes has the ability to score long shots, but he's got to have these conversations about this is what I like and with the ball up here, I am going to make this run and feed me in.

"The manager has got his system too, so he is going to have the ideas of how he wants the team to progress up the football pitch. In the end, he's a project and he's not the perfect striker yet. He's not the finished article just yet, but when he gets these opportunities, he is trying very hard, he wants to score goals and be in the positions to score goals.

"He is desperate to show his capabilities at Manchester United. Has he scored the goals they would have expected him to, or would he have had more shots than he would have liked? I don't think he's getting loads of chances per game that are near misses."

For United's sake, it needs to happen as soon as possible.