Six years ago, Juventus were hanging onto the last vestiges of their Scudetto dynasty, Liverpool were preparing to end a three-decade-long title drought, whilst Bayern Munich were transforming into an unstoppable
cog under new coach Hansi Flick. Wayne Rooney was plying his trade outside of Europe with MLS side D.C. United, whilst Joshua Zirkzee was preparing to launch his professional career with Bayern Munich.
Born in Schiedam, Netherlands, Zirkzee left for Germany in 2017, where he rose through the youth ranks at Bayern and eventually scored 4 goals in 17 appearances as Bayern won five trophies in 2020, before being loaned out to Serie A side Parma for the second half of the 2020/21 season. After struggling to convince in Italy, Zirkzee was loaned out to Belgian powerhouse Anderlecht, where he racked up 18 goals and 13 assists in 47 appearances, prompting the attention of Italian outfit Bologna.
He failed to make his mark in an injury-plagued 2022/23 campaign, but Zirkzee’s sophomore year in Bologna would see him emerge as a vital cog in attack under Thiago Motta, scoring 12 goals and 7 assists in 37 appearances and leading the club to their first European qualification in six decades. It was enough to earn a move to one of the biggest clubs in world football, with Manchester United signing him to a five-year contract for a fee of £36.5m.
So far, Zirkzee hasn’t come close to justifying United’s outlay. Whereas Zirkzee was able to work his magic and play at his own pace in Italy, he hasn’t been afforded that same freedom to thrive as a false 9 and create danger in the final third with his elite vision and playmaking qualities. It’s evident that his style isn’t quite as tailored towards English football, a harbinger of physically imposing, tenacious center backs like James Tarkowski, Guy Branston, and Toby Alderweireld. He has far less time and space to attack the opposition; he’s now having to play at a far quicker velocity and cope with the physical demands of end-to-end football.
Zirkzee simply doesn’t possess the physicality and top-end speed to impose himself in the Premier League, whether that’s keeping up the high press or breaking forward on the counter or outmuscling his opponents in physical duels. This lack of physical prowess, combined with inefficient decision-making in the final third and abysmal attempts at goal, would see Zirkzee divide opinion in the United fanbase. But as for Ruben Amorim, he wasn’t divided – he had seen enough to know that he needed better options. It’s why United decided to splurge €225m on an attacking makeover, with Bryan Mbuemo, Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha arriving in the summer 2025 window.
As a result, Zirkzee has found himself relegated further down the pecking order. Whereas last season was an open competition between him and Rasmus Hojlund, he’s now on the outside looking in behind United’s aforementioned trio, as well as Amad Diallo and Mason Mount in Amorim’s attacking options. After missing their first two matches, Zirkzee came on for the final quarter-hour of their penalty shootout defeat to Grimsby Town in the EFL Cup, before replacing Cunha within a half-hour of their 3-2 win vs. Burnley, followed by a late appearance in a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City. Apart from a brief cameo in a 3-1 defeat at Brentford, Zirkzee would ride the bench in United’s next three matches before replacing Sesko in the 82nd minute of their 4-2 win vs. Brighton.
With United finally stringing together some positive form under their Portuguese manager, there’s zero reason whatsoever for Amorim to change things up, meaning that Zirkzee has an uphill climb as he looks to get back into the team. It’s why Zirkzee could very well be considering a January move in order to consolidate his aspirations of playing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Zirkzee scored 1 goal and 1 assist in 6 appearances for the Netherlands’ senior team between July and November 2024, playing in their final two Euros matches, but ever since joining United, he’s slowly fallen outside the national team picture. After making four straight windows, Zirkzee has since been left out of the Netherlands squad in March, June, September, and October. And if he is to beat out ex-United forwards like Memphis Depay and Wout Weghorst for a spot in next summer’s World Cup squad, he may very well need to depart Old Trafford in January.
