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Top journalists have poured cold water on rumours of an early return to Italy for Manchester United forward Joshua Zirkzee.
Despite coming off the bench to score a late winner on his debut, the Dutchman has had an indifferent start to life at Old Trafford since his £36.5m move from Bologna in the summer.
And in the past week, substantial column space has been dedicated to reports that Zirkzee is set to head back to Serie A in January, with some even going so far as to lay out the terms of a potential deal.
Specifically a loan move to Juventus was mooted, and rumours gathered pace that the player was unhappy in Manchester and would actively look to push through a move back to Italy.
But transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has had his say on the matter and it is good news for United fans. Speaking on his YouTube channel, via TEAMtalk, Romano said, “Joshua Zirkzee was very happy in Italy, Zirkzee did fantastic in Italy, but he strongly wanted to go to Manchester United.”
He added, “Zirkzee decided to go to Man United, it was three months ago… so to think that Zirkzee is already planning to leave the club and try something different, this is something that Zirkzee is not doing. He is fully focused on Man United.”
His view is backed up by Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, who gave the rumours short shrift on X.
“The 23y/o believes in his qualities, wants to establish himself, and sees himself as the number one striker,” he said. “Rumors [sic] about his intention to leave the club are fake news, according to sources.”
🚨🔴 Been told that Joshua #Zirkzee does not intend to leave Manchester United in winter ✔️
The 23y/o believes in his qualities, wants to establish himself, and sees himself as the number one striker. #MUFC
Rumors about his intention to leave the club are fake news, according… pic.twitter.com/Lh8gOqJVFq
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) October 25, 2024
Since his thrilling debut on the first day of the season, when he scored the decisive goal in a tense 1-0 win over Fulham at Old Trafford, the 23-year-old forward has struggled to kick on.
In the 11 games since, he has only picked up one more goal involvement, an assist for Christian Eriksen’s strike in the 1-1 Europa League draw with Fenerbahce last night.
What’s more, aside from some neat touches, he has largely looked off the pace in the notoriously hectic Premier League so far.
With Rasmus Hojlund missing the start of the season through injury, Zirkzee had a golden opportunity to cement his place as United’s top centre-forward. But his time leading the United line has been characterised by missed chances and positional confusion.
According to sofascore stats, the young attacker has missed four big chances in the Premier League and with just a single goal to his name so far, he is underperforming his 2.44 xG.
Nevertheless, Romano noted that United are willing to give Zirkzee time to get up to speed and won’t make any rash decisions just yet.
Feature image Burak Kara via Getty Images
