Joshua Zirkzee may have suffered a baptism of fire in his maiden Premier League season, but he was once praised by several high-profile names, suggesting he still has more to offer Manchester United
Joshua Zirkzee endured a difficult debut season for Manchester United, but he has the backing of several high-profile stars, including Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Fabio Capello.
Zirkzee joined the Red Devils from Bologna last summer in a £36.5m deal but only scored seven goals in 49 appearances across all competitions. Nevertheless, his time spent in Serie A with Bologna won him a lot of fans – one of which was England and AC Milan midfielder Loftus-Cheek.
Asked by Sempremilan back in 2023 who was a strong but underrated player he has faced, the ex-Chelsea star didn’t hesitate, saying: “I believe that Bologna were one of the toughest opponents. I say Zirkzee, their 9: he’s good.”
Plaudits for Zirkzee didn’t stop there. Speaking in June 2024, former England boss Capello claimed he was “in love” with the 24-year-old.
“Apart from Lautaro [Martinez, Inter] I’m in love with the Bologna centre-forward [Zirkzee],” Capello said to Milan News. “I saw him at San Siro against Milan and I admired a complete player with great technical qualities, gifted with great imagination, capable of understanding the game, running a lot and imposing himself physically.
“He’s the modern player with a lot of quality. He has quick thinking and always chooses the play that can hurt the opponent the most. He has technical and tactical sensitivity.”
Zirkzee signed a five-year contract at Old Trafford last summer and made a solid start by scoring the winner on his debut for the club against Fulham. However, a series of lacklustre performances, which resulted in him being booed by the Old Trafford faithful against Newcastle, put his future at the club in doubt.
RB Leipzig forward Benjamin Sesko is now poised to complete a move to United in the coming days, increasing competition for Zirkzee. United have struck a deal worth £66.4m plus add-ons with Leipzig for the 22-year-old Slovenian, with Sesko granted permission to travel to Manchester yesterday for his medical.
Yet Zirkzee, who has already had to contend with the arrivals of attackers Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, is seemingly up for the challenge of fighting for his place.
Zirkzee even ‘liked’ a social media post showing Sesko on a private jet after he had reached an ‘agreement in principle’ over a move, demonstrating that he is happy to welcome any and all competition to the club.
The forward’s future was naturally up in the air after such a testing maiden season, and Italian outlet Quotidiano even reported that Atalanta were hoping to take Zirkzee back to Italy this summer.
But on the club’s pre-season trip to the United States, Zirkzee remained upbeat. After suffering a hamstring injury in April, the striker was restricted to running and weight exercises on the tour but he claimed the atmosphere around the United squad was first-class.
“There’s some good energy around,” Zirkzee told club media in the US. “Also, outside the pitch, there’s good vibes, we’re doing a lot of team bonding. We’re getting much closer than we were.”
Speaking on his future, he was also bullish that he has the ear of United head coach Ruben Amorim as he looks to make a bigger impact this season.
“I’m very confident, everyone’s very confident,” said Zirkzee. “We’ve got competition, so whichever position the coach needs me is the position I’ll play – if that’s as a No.10 or a striker, it’s no different. The coach knows me well and knows exactly what to do and I’ve got 100 percent trust in the coach so I’m not worried about that.”
2025-08-08 08:13:14
