Manchester United have been taking a long, hard look at signing Joshua Zirkzee this summer and a detailed look at the player shows exactly why he would thrive in Erik ten Hag’s system and provide a major upgrade on Anthony Martial.
Zirkzee had the season of his life for Bologna in 2023/24 and he’s rightly been attracting interest from top teams such as Bayern Munich, Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter Milan and many more.
But it’s Manchester United who are the club on the verge of signing the 6ft 4in Dutchman in the summer. So who exactly is he and does he fit in at Man Utd?
Zirkzee is at the heart of every attack for Bologn; he’s a facilitator of play, constantly creating chances for others with an ability to drop deep and spray passes wide. His spatial awareness is what makes him so effective at this as he’s always scanning to find where the space is, and his movement helps to allow other spaces to form. Such an intelligent striker.
When looking at Man Utd, the loan signing of Wout Weghorst in January 2023 raised some eyebrows, but his role as a facilitator was crucial in Marcus Rashford’s red-hot form. This type of striker is how you get the best out of an inside forward like Rashford who’s not involved in build-up play much.
Zirkzee would benefit McTominay, Fernandes and Rashford
One of Zirkzee’s trademark moves is to drop deep, as for the ball from midfielders/defenders in build-up play to escape the press, receive the ball on the half turn, spin a defender, then ping a pass wide out the wings for a wide player to run in behind from. A match made in heaven for a goalscoring winger like Rashford.
Despite being so tall, the 23-year-old is a very agile player, who loves a Cruyff-turn to fool his marker and create separation to shoot or progress play into space. It’s rare you see someone move so well at this height and it’s all down to the mobility in his hips. He’ll swivel in the box in such a quick motion to beat a defender and shoot on goal. Zirkzee has scored a few goals in this exact way. A quality first touch to bring the ball down and then a swift, intricate movement in the box to get a shot off.
