Career suicide? Legend slams Zirkzee's Man Utd transfer

Imre Himmelbauer

Updated: 5 Oct 2024 17:22 BST
4 min read

Ruud Gullit thinks Joshua Zirkzee made the wrong choice by moving to Manchester United in the summer.

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The 23-year-old striker had an excellent season at Bologna, where he scored 12 goals and provided seven assists in 37 matches. However, according to Gullit, Zirkzee would have been a better fit for AC Milan, who were also interested, than for Man Utd.

Several clubs competed for the signature of the attacker in the previous transfer window, but in the end, Erik ten Hag's Red Devils came out on top: the English giants paid €42.5 million to bring Zirkzee to Old Trafford.

In addition to Man Utd, AC Milan and Juventus were also interested. Thiago Motta is now the coach of the latter club; he worked with Zirkzee at Bologna last season.

More so than the Bianconeri, however, it was Milan who were actually close to signing the Dutchman. However, the deal ultimately collapsed due to the hefty demands of the player's agent, who was reportedly asking for a €15m commission.

Zirkzee should have joined Milan

Dutch legend Ruud Gullit laments Zirkzee's choice for United. "He should have said yes to Milan, instead of moving to England," the former footballer of PSV and Milan told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"He knows the Serie A, a few more seasons in this competition would have been very useful for his development, but then at a top club like Milan. Now he is at a club with a lot of problems, where his growth is not facilitated.

His numbers are not very exciting either," Gullit refers to the fact that Zirkzee only managed to score for United on his debut, in a 1-0 Premier League win against Fulham.

Despite this, Gullit believes Zirkzee has the qualities to still succeed in Manchester: "I hope he can turn the tide after an inevitable period of settling. He is good, there is no doubt about that, but it is difficult to do well at United at a historic moment like this."

The record champions of England have been going through a very turbulent time since the departure of successful manager Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013. This season, the fallen giants have started poorly: they only sit 13th after six games. In the Europa League, Ten Hag's team drew against both FC Twente (1-1) and FC Porto (3-3).