Manchester United foward Joshua Zirkzee arrived to the club a stone (6.35 kg) overweight and was not Erik ten Hag’s first choice forward.
United struggled for goals massively last season and one of Ineos’ main priorities was purchasing a striker in the summer window.
The Red Devils landed Zirkzee in early July after a tight battle with AC Milan for the Dutchman’s services.
Things got off to the perfect start as Zirkzee scored the winning goal on his Premier League debut against Fulham, coming off the bench.
Nonetheless, this is as good as things have got for the former Bologna man as he has only one goal in 14 appearances for his new club.
The Sun report that the £36.5m signing “arrived at Manchester United a stone overweight – and Erik ten Hag didn’t even want him.”
The paper revealed that it “has taken a while to shift that extra weight” and “his condition left manager Ten Hag unhappy as he was not his choice of striker in the first place.”
Zirkzee’s struggles to match the speed of the Premier League were highlighted when he was put through on goal against Chelsea at the weekend soon after coming on as a substitute but despite his fresh legs, couldn’t beat Wesley Fofana for pace.
While the Dutchman is no longer Ten Hag’s problem, new manager Ruben Amorim’s preference for physical, stronger forwards may spell signifciant trouble for Zirkzee’s future.
It is thought that Rasmus Hojlund is much more in the mould of the type of striker the new manager values and there have also been numerous transfer links to current Sporting Lisbon striker, Viktor Gyokeres.
There have already been reports that Zirkzee would happily return to Italy and the club would be prepared to do this to fund another striker such as Benjamin Sesko but Fabrizio Romano has already put these rumours to bed, claiming the player is “fully focused” on making it at United.
While it is incredibly early to write off the player’s chances at the club, Zirkzee needs to show a lot more than he has and will need to find himself a role under the incoming manager who will aim to shape the club in his own mould as soon as possible.
Featured image Burak Kara via Getty Images
Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
