It's been a real topsy-turvey sort of season for Manchester United this year, with some massive wins, such as the one against Liverpool over the weekend, and some shocking defeats as well.
However, one of the bright spots in an otherwise forgetful campaign has been newboy Rasmus Højlund, who has looked electric at points and like a striker who could fire the club to glory in a few years.
That said, while the Dane is the club's top goalscorer, a former flop who left almost a decade ago is presently outscoring him and looks as impressive as ever.
Rasmus Højlund's performances this season
The young Dane arrived at the club off the back of a high profile £72m move from Serie A side Atalanta despite only joining the Bergamo-based outfit the summer before for €17m, which is about £15m.
To put it diplomatically, the first half of the season was interesting for the then-20-year-old. In the Champions League, he was lethal and, at one point, the competition's top scorer, but in the Premier League, he hadn't scored a single goal.
Appearances
20
6
3
2
Goals
7
5
1
0
Assists
2
0
0
0
Goal Involvements per Match
0.45
0.83
0.33
0.00
However, on Boxing Day, he finally broke his duct and scored an 89th-minute winner against Aston Villa before scoring another six goals in his next five league games.
In all, the Copenhagen-born dynamo has scored 13 goals and provided two assists in 31 games for United this season and is starting to look at home in the Premier League, which should worry opposing sides.
However, for as brilliant as the young Dane has been, he is still being outscored by a former United flop.
Ángel Di María's season with Manchester United
Yes, the man in question is World Cup and Champions League winner Ángel Di María.
The Red Devils signed the Argentine great for a British record £60m in the summer of 2014 in the aftermath of his European triumph with Real Madrid, and to say the expectations were high would be an understatement.
Everything started perfectly for the former Real man, as in his first six league games, he scored three goals and provided seven assists, but following his goal against Everton on the 5th October, he'd only score once more in 27 appearances.
In fairness to the Rosario-born superstar, he was tasked with playing six different positions in that season, suffered from three injuries that saw him miss a number of games and had his house attacked, which must have made it hard for him to settle at the club.
Transfer Fee
£60m
Fee Sold For
£44m
Total Wages
£12.2m
Total Cost (Including Sale)
£28.2m
Appearances
32
Cost per Appearance
£882k
Goals
4
Cost per Goal
£7m
Assists
12
Cost per Assist
£2.3m
Goal Involvements
16
Cost per Goal Involvements
£1.7m
In all, the 5 foot 10 magician scored just four goals and provided 12 assists in his 32 appearances for the club and earned £250k-per-week for the 49 weeks he was a United player.
This means that with his £60m transfer fee and the £44m fee they received for selling him in 2015 taken into consideration, the World Cup winner cost the Red Devils £28.2m for one season of dismal performances.
That comes to about £7m-per-goal, £2.3m-per-assist, £1.7m-per-goal-involvement, or £882k-per-appearance.
Wage Burners
Football FanCast's Wage Burners series explores the salaries of the modern-day game.
Ángel Di María's performances this season
There is no getting away from the fact that the "outstanding talent," as talent scout Jacek Kulig described him, was terrible for United in the year he spent at the club.
Still, after leaving, he rebuilt his reputation at Paris Saint Germain and Juventus, going on to produce 212 goal involvements in 295 games for the former and 15 goal involvements in 40 games for the latter.
Last summer, at 35 years old, the United flop elected to rejoin his old team, Benfica, on a one-year contract. While some might have expected him to slowly wind down, given his age, he's done the complete opposite.
So far, the tricky winger has scored 15 goals and provided 11 assists in 39 appearances for As Águias, outscoring Hojlund by two goals while providing nine more assists to boot.
Appearances
295
40
39
Goals
93
8
15
Assists
119
7
11
Goal Involvements per Match
0.71
0.37
0.66
Ultimately, United probably did the right thing in selling Di Maria when they did, but there will always be slight doubt whether he would have been able to acclimatise to the Premier League with one more season, and if he had, maybe United would be in a better place than they are today.