'Every day' - Rasmus Hojlund opens up on Ruud van Nistelrooy impact at Manchester United

Rasmus Hojund is still developing a relationship with Manchester United great Ruud van Nistelrooy but revealed the club's former striker had already given him "a lot of good advice".

In scoring the winner against Brentford, Hojlund showed the composure and clinical finishing ability that was Van Nistelrooy's forte during a five-year spell at Old Trafford that yielded 150 goals in 219 games.

It has become commonplace to ask every United forward about the impact Van Nistelrooy, who returned to the club as an assistant manager this summer, is having on their game. In Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, he has two talented but raw strikers that he can fine-tune on the Carrington training pitches.

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But the 48-year-old has a more hands-on role at the club than just taking the strikers for a few finishing drills. He has become a visible presence next to Erik ten Hag on the touchline. He was the attack dog on Saturday, marching down the touchline to remonstrate with fourth official Gavin Ward after Brentford's controversial opener.

United used that anger as fuel for their second-half comeback, completed with Hojlund's dinked finish over Mark Flekken, and Van Nistelrooy punched the air and exchanged an embrace with Ten Hag after seeing the smart finish hit the back of the net. He would have been delighted to see the 21-year-old get his second goal of the campaign and while Hojlund is relishing working with a striker of such pedigree, he is competing for time with him as well.

"Everybody's asking me this question," he said when pressed on Van Nistelrooy's impact. "He's helping us every day, but he's also helping the defence and the midfield.

"He's a very good assistant coach, but obviously, he's a great striker. You're trying to learn everything about him and all these sort of things.

"I haven't had that long time to learn from him yet because I haven't been back for a little more than a month or so. But obviously, he's given me a lot of good advice."

Hojlund picked up a hamstring injury just 13 minutes into his pre-season campaign, but he had already found the back of the net against Arsenal in that game. He has since had to be patient on his return to fitness but now has two goals in his last three games, all of them starts, and after scoring 16 times in his first season at the club, he has regained his place in the team from summer signing Zirkzee.

The Dane admitted the injury had come at an "annoying time," having inherited the No. 9 shirt from Anthony Martial this summer and starting that friendly in fine form. However, he stayed positive during his rehabilitation and is starting to look sharp once again.

"I tried to focus on [the fact] that I'm very privileged to be a professional footballer," he said. "Obviously, there's downsides and upsides, and we get critics, but also sometimes we are superstars but all in all, I'm living the dream every day.

"I'm playing for Manchester United, and having the number nine on the back for Manchester United, it's a good life. I just tried to focus on that part, and also I could focus on everything else instead. Trying to be even fitter for when I come back, doing my recovery even better. I think I'm in a great spot right now."