Manchester United is finally acquiring a striker, but Rasmus Hojlund is unlikely to solve their offensive woes on his own.

The Denmark international has passed his medical ahead of a possible transfer announcement this weekend. Although he is highly regarded, expectations must be tempered for a player so inexperienced on the world's largest stages.

Even before Cristiano Ronaldo's departure in November, United required a new striker, a need that Wout Weghorst's loan signing did nothing to address.

Even if Hojlund is a success in his first season, United will need more than his goals to close the distance with the Premier League's elite; if he requires additional time to adjust, this requirement will be even greater. 

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Last season, United scored 103 goals in all competitions, but those figures are somewhat deceiving given the club's 62-game schedule.

A more accurate reflection of their offensive output is that they scored only 58 goals in the Premier League, tying for seventh place with Tottenham and Brighton; only seven more than relegated Leicester.

They concluded 36 goals, or one Erling Haaland, behind Manchester City's total, which demonstrates how much work remains to be done before they can legitimately challenge for the championship. 

Obviously, there is no assurance that Haaland will match his extraterrestrial output from the previous season, nor is there any assurance that Marcus Rashford will be able to do so. United's deficit of 36 goals to City's aggregate is only arguable if you assume the England international will score another 17 goals for himself to begin with.

Anthony Martial was surprisingly the club's third-leading scorer in all competitions with nine goals, while Jadon Sancho and Antony failed to reach double figures. United found encouragement in Alejandro Garnacho's five goals, the same number as Ronaldo and Weghorst combined.

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What is more encouraging, however, is that Rashford not only aspires to equal his career-high production, but also believes he can surpass it.

"When I came back from the World Cup, I felt like there was a mentality change, and I felt like I was up there with some of the best players in the world at that time," he told The Overlap.

“Before last season, I always aimed for 20 goals – a good benchmark for a winger. But this season, I’ve hit 30 – we have to try and push it now. Towards the end of the season, I was struggling with a few injuries, and I wasn’t quite at it – that’s when the goals started to dry up for a bit. If I can keep that side of it under taps, I feel like I can go on and get 35 or 40.”

It will be a challenge for Erik ten Hag and Benni McCarthy to coax even more out of Marcus Rashford, but they have every reason to believe they can do so given Rashford's upcoming schedule.

At the age of 25, he has yet to reach his full potential, and with Hojlund on board, United could be on the verge of achieving the goal total required to mount a genuine title challenge.