Joshua Zirkzee celebrates the Netherlands win over Türkiye at Euro 2024
With Erik ten Hag confirmed as Coach and Dan Ashworth now officially in place as Sporting Director, Manchester United seem to have wasted little time in getting their summer transfer business underway.
According to multiple sources, including Italian transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio, the first arrival of this new era at Old Trafford will be striker Joshua Zirksee. Currently with the Netherlands squad at Euro 2024, the Bologna star has been a wanted man over the last few weeks, with clubs across Europe linked with his signature.
However, as Di Marzio noted on his own website, United appear to have got their man by immediately agreeing to pay both the release clause in Zirkzee’s contract and the large fee demanded by his agent Kia Joorabchian.
That will reportedly see the Premier League side pay Bologna €40 million ($43.31 million), then hand another €15 million ($16.24 million) to his agent to complete the deal as quickly as possible.
Who Is Joshua Zirkzee?
Born in Schiedam to a Dutch father and a Nigerian mother, Zirkzee bounced around a number of youth setups after initially joining VV Hekelingen at the age of 5. From there he spent time with Spartaan ’20 and ADO Den Haag before eventually finding his way to Feyenoord in 2016.
Yet he would spend just one year there, but his next move would be to Germany with Bayern Munich, impressing in their youth sides before making his debut for their reserve team in March 2019.
A hat trick on his first appearance would be the perfect start, and by July he would make his first team debut in a UEFA Champions League win over Tottenham. Zirkzee’s Bundesliga debut came just a week later, the striker netting a winning goal against Freiburg just moments after being subbed on.
He would repeat the feat two days later, a decisive strike against Wolfsburg meaning he had scored two goals in his first eight minutes of action for Bayern despite still only being 18 years old.
Another two goals would follow in a total of nine appearances that season but, like a number of other strikers, Zirkzee would find playing time hard to come by with Robert Lewandowski in such dominating form.
An ill-fated loan to Parma for the 2020/21 campaign saw the young Dutchman manage just four appearances before an LCL injury ended his season before it had even begun. He recovered and was sent to Anderlecht the following year, weighing in with 16 goals and nine assists in an impressive bounce-back year.
Those performances in Belgium convinced Bologna to make a move for Zirkzee, signing him outright in August 2022 for a fee of €8.5 million ($9.2 million), a deal which Bayern shrewdly inserted a 50% sell-on clause according to Sky’s Florian Plettenberg.
His first season in Italy was tough. Coach Thiago Motta chose to play with only one striker and opted to give priority to the veteran Marko Arnautović, Zirkzee limited to just five starts and a mere 805 minutes of Serie A action.
“I wasn’t ready mentally, not like Motta wanted anyway,” he told the Corriere della Sera back in February, but he would spend the season learning what his new boss wanted. When Arnautović moved to Inter last summer, it was quickly clear that Zirkzee would snatch the chance to shine.
“The time came to take a step forward,” he added in that same interview, “to take on more responsibility, to demonstrate that I was ready and take advantage of the opportunity.”
There was no doubt he did just that, spearheading Motta’s attack as Bologna powered to a third-placed finish, qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history.
He may have only recorded 11 goals and four assists, but there is no doubt that his performances were key to the success of the Rossoblu and are the reason there was so much interest in him this summer.
The strengths and weaknesses of Joshua Zirkzee
Joshua Zirksee with Bologna boss Thiago Motta
Appearances can be deceiving, and that is certainly true of Zirkzee. Standing at 6’ 3” (1.93m) tall, the 23-year-old is an imposing presence and he plays with incredible physicality, yet he is so much more than just a target man.
He plays with incredible flair and skill, something he credits the days spent playing on the “Cruyff Courts.” These small artificial pitches that have been built all over the Netherlands by the Johan Cruyff Foundation are the closest thing to the beloved street football of a bygone era.
“I think what the USA has with basketball courts, we have in Holland with the five-a-side pitches,” Zirkzee told La Gazzetta dello Sport recently. “It makes you tough, you have to be smarter, you have to find a way to keep up with guys that are bigger and stronger than you.
“I learned on the streets – and that’s where creativity comes to life.”
That creativity is evident in his game, Zirkzee finding pockets of space where he can provide a constant outlet for his team-mates. Sometimes that means dropping deep to receive it, other times he runs in behind the defence and – as can be seen in the video above – he has proven equally adept at both, making him extremely difficult to track.
Once in possession, he has the skill to take on opponents 1v1 and the vision to thread passes on to forward running midfielders as they join him in attack. Indeed, according to WhoScored.com, Zirkzee averaged 1.7 successful take-ons and 1.4 chances created per 90 minutes.
He is also tireless in pursuit of the ball, pressing and harrying opponents and helping Bologna break up attacks on their defence before they have truly begun.
He is also aware of his weaknesses, acknowledging that his production needs to improve. “I think I have to be more selfish in front of goal, it’s something I have to work on,” Zirkzee told the Corriere dello Sport.
Since the season ended he was a late call-up to the Netherlands Euro 2024 squad, making his full international debut in their quarterfinal win over Turkey. Now it appears he will be on the move again, as Joshua Zirkzee seems set to join Manchester United and look to be part of a new era there too.