Manchester United succumbed to their fourth straight loss in all competitions on Monday as Newcastle clinched an emphatic 2-0 win at Old Trafford in the Premier League.
The game was once again proof that the current squad is ill-equipped to deal with Ruben Amorim’s high-intensity style, clearly built by INEOS to play a counter-attacking brand of football.
The Portuguese’ choice to start Joshua Zirkzee as one of the two No 10s did not work and the forward was replaced at the 33rd-minute mark by Kobbie Mainoo amid ironic cheers.
The 23-year-old has endured a tough start to life as a United forward, managing only four goals since his summer move and there have been reports stating he is ready to quit after he was brought to tears as a result of Amorim’s brutal substitution call.
Zirkzee’s future
His former club Bologna are interested in him as are Juventus, managed by former Bologna boss Thiago Motta, and Napoli with the Netherlands international’s agent pushing for a January move back to Italy.
However, if The Daily Mail are to believed, the former Bayern Munich star is not ready to quit just yet and wants to fight for his future in Manchester.
“Joshua Zirkzee is attracting interest from Juventus and Napoli but will fight for his Manchester United future.
“Mail Sport has learned that both clubs are manoeuvring themselves into a position to strike for Zirkzee should it emerge he can leave.
“Zirkzee is believed to be aware of the interest but is fully focused on his season with United and has no desire to leave as he concentrates on playing a role in moving the team up the table.”
Ready to fight for his future
This strong fighting spirit will hold Zirkzee in good stead after the disappointment on Monday and the fans will back him even more should his performances improve.
As previously relayed by The Peoples Person, the Turin-based outfit were planning a loan deal with an option to buy if certain conditions like qualifying for the Champions League is met.
That deal does not suit INEOS as they are looking at raising money through sales to recruit players for Amorim in January.
With Marcus Rashford’s future also up in the air and Rasmus Hojlund also struggling, Amorim will need reinforcements desperately before green lighting an exit.
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
