Manchester United flop Joshua Zirkzee agrees January exit: report

0
Manchester United star Joshua Zirkzee has agreed an early exit from Old Trafford after struggling in his first season in English football.

The Dutchman arrived to much fanfare over the summer after helping Bologna to a historic season in Serie A. Under Thiago Motta, the club qualified for the Champions League for the first time ever, with Zirkzee a major success of the campaign.

But since moving to the Premier League, the forward has struggled – culminating in an embarrassing cameo against Newcastle United recently in which he was substituted after half an hour.

Manchester United to negotiate move that sees Joshua Zirkzee leave

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim looks on following his side's defeat against AFC Bournemouth (Image credit: Getty Images)

Zirkzee hit the ground running at Manchester United, scoring on opening night of the Premier League under former manager Erik ten Hag.

Consistency has been hard to come by all term, however, with the 23-year-old looking a shadow of himself this season. Now, a report from Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy says that he has agreed a loan move to Juventus.

Cristiano Giuntoli and Thiago Motta of Juventus, observing training in Turin (Image credit: Daniele Badolato - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images)

Amorim, ranked at no.11 in FourFourTwo's list of the best managers in the world right now, has publicly backed his forward but admitted that he's unsure whether he will remain a United player this month.

“I want to keep Josh because he gives everything and he’s trying in training but we don’t know,” he said. “The window is open and we will see what happens.

Get the FourFourTwo Newsletter The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors

“We just need to focus on training and to take this for the other games. It’s just one point so let’s focus on the performance for the next games."

In FourFourTwo's opinion, a loan would do Zirkzee the world of good in helping him rediscover his confidence with former manager, Motta.

INEOS have a history at Nice of cutting their losses on signings that haven't worked out rather than persisting with them – so it wouldn't be out of character for them to ditch Zirkzee after mere months.

Zirkzee is worth €42 million, according to Transfermarkt. United take on Arsenal this weekend in FA Cup action, as the Third Round begins.

Click here to read article

Related Articles