Joshua Zirkzee welcomes by Bruno Fernandes after Man United transfer
Bruno Fernandes was quick to welcome Joshua Zirkzee after the latter completed his £36.5m move to Man United after weeks of speculation.
A Bayern Munich academy graduate, Zirkzee rose to fame last season as he played a crucial role in Bologna making Champions League in remarkable fashion.
Zirkzee was linked to a wide array of clubs this summer, with everything from a return to Bayern to a move to AC Milan being considered, before United managed to pull the signing off by offering Bologna more than his release clause fee.
In welcoming Zirkzee, Fernandes kept things short and sweet.
Both Zirkzee and Fernandes have recently concluded their respective Euro 2024 campaigns while representing their respective countries, the Netherlands and Portugal.
According to Capology, Zirkzee has signed a £180k-a-week contract at United that is set to run until June 2029.
Zirkzee a very non-Ten Hag signing
It’s hard to see how Zirkzee fits into the current United setup under Erik ten Hag.
For starters, he’s not a goal-scoring forward and has himself admitted to preferring playing supporting roles up front.
Additionally, Zirkzee is 23, and United already have a “project” striker in Rasmus Højlund (21), and since the Dutchman is not much of a goal guarantee anyway, United buying another young striker is a move that becomes even more confusing.
One could say that the two could play together, which is doable on paper, but we have never seen Ten Hag play two strikers up front. While we have seen him use someone like Wout Weghorst in a withdrawn forward role, it has usually been for off-ball reasons, and again Zirkzee is not known for his off-ball movement and more for his tendency to drift around and link up play.
He could, of course, be deployed out wide in Antony’s stead or used as a #10, but these are just speculations one can make since we haven’t seen a player like Zirkzee utilised by Ten Hag at United.
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Then again, one could say that Zirkzee is more of a signing by the new United guys in the hierarchy above Ten Hag, who has only been handed a one-year contract extension, making it very likely that this opportune bargain pick-up is more for a future that may not feature Ten Hag.
