Napoli director Giovanni Manna insists that Man Utd striker Rasmus Hojlund “will stay” at the Serie A club next season even if they don’t qualify for the Champions League.

The Red Devils allowed Hojlund to leave Old Trafford in the summer on a season-long loan with Napoli having an obligation to make the deal permanent if they qualify for the Champions League.

Hojlund struggled to have the desired impact at Man Utdwith the 23-year-old scoring 26 goals in 95 matches in all competitions for the Red Devils.

Man Utd spent around ￡200m improving their attack in the summer transfer window with Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha all joining, signalling the end of Hojlund’s time at Old Trafford.

And now Manna has confirmed that Hojlund, who has scored 13 goals for Napoli this term, will be bought even if they don’t qualify for the Champions League and join Casemiro on the Old Trafford exit ramp.

When asked about bringing Hojlund back to Napoli, Manna clarified: “There are no doubts.

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“Rasmus Hojlund will stay here. We have an obligation to buy from Man Utd, if Napoli qualify for Champions League, but he is in our plans despite this condition.”

Manna had already revealed earlier this season that Hojlund “considers himself a Napoli player” as the Italian club intend to purchase him.

He said in January: “We did everything we could to sign him. There were more storied clubs interested, but his will was crucial, and we are proud of it.

“We had no doubts. Rasmus is decisive in terms of numbers, but also in how he understands the coach’s input. This makes a difference.

“There’s an option to buy and an obligation to buy if we qualify for the Champions League. The player considers himself a Napoli player, and the same goes for us. This is extremely important.”

Fabrizio Romano revealed recently that Man Utd will get €50m (￡43m) in total for the Hojlund deal with the transfer “a formality”.

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Romano said: “Very good news for Man Utd because Napoli confirm that they believe the obligation for Rasmus Hojlund will be just a formality.

“It will happen in 2026. There were some stories about Napoli being limited in the market, not able to invest, but that’s not the case for Hojlund.

“United will have €50m from Hojlund’s deal (€44m obligation + €6m loan fee), and that is very important for news. It’s also the reason why they want to invest in 2026 because they will have fresh money from Hojlund’s deal.

“Then there’s also the Jadon Sancho situation, they hold a big sell-on clause for Mason Greenwood, and of course, the Marcus Rashford situation.

“For Manchester United, fresh money is coming.”

Speaking of Hojlund’s early season form in December, Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola criticised Man Utd, he said:?“Hojlund is driving everyone crazy, even people at Manchester United.

“After McTominay left because of [Erik] ten Hag’s reckless decisions, they let go of a striker like that.”