William Saliba saves Man Utd flop’s career

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 14 Jan 2025 12:06 GMT
• 4 min read

A moment of genius from Joshua Zirkzee on William Saliba has saved the Dutchman's Man Utd career.

Zirkzee had seemed almost certain to leave Man Utd this month after a miserable first six months at the club following his €42 million summer move from Bologna.

Juventus had been in talks to sign Zirkzee, a transfer that both the player and Man Utd were open to.

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But Zirkzee seems almost certain to stay at United now after a superb substitute performance on Sunday against Arsenal.

The attacker came off the bench to inspire ten-man United to victory on penalties in the third round of the FA Cup at the Emirates.

Zirkzee scored the winning penalty in the shootout, while his overall hold-up play and link-up with his teammates was fantastic.

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But it was one moment that has gone viral that has really convinced United and manager Ruben Amorim that Zirkzee is a player who still has a future at Old Trafford.

In the closing stages of the 90 minutes, Zirkzee produced a double moment of genius to embarrass Arsenal defender William Saliba.

He took down a difficult high ball before executing a stunning double nutmeg on Saliba, before setting up a dangerous counter-attack.

Calciomercato reports that following this game Juventus have now realised that Zirkzee is unobtainable this month and they have advanced talks to try and sign Randal Kolo Muani from PSG instead.

Man Utd manager Amorim also spoke highly of Zirkzee after the win against Arsenal.

"He's a good guy. A few weeks ago we were suffering a very difficult moment. Now, he was a game changer for us," Amorim said.

The 23-year-old Zirkzee was one of the standout players in Serie A last season, and he was often compared to former Milan and Barcelona star Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

But he is yet to show that form at Old Trafford.

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The striker scored on his Premier League debut against Fulham but struggled badly after that and took months until he scored another goal.

He has played sporadically under new United manager Amorim but it is hoped that this cameo against Arsenal can ignite his United career.

Zirkzee at Bologna

Zirkzee led Bologna to a shock qualification into this season’s Champions League under Motta.

Zirkzee delivered 12 goals and seven assists in all competitions as Bologna finished fifth in Serie A.

He was the key man for a Bologna team who performed well above their weight under Motta to qualify for the Champions League.

Standing at 6ft 4in, Zirkzee is a giant of a striker who at Bologna was expert at holding up the ball and bringing others into play.

Zirkzee went to Euro 2024 with Netherlands but barely featured under Ronald Koeman.