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Man Utd think they really messed up when signing £37m player

Charles Jones

Sat 11 January 2025 11:15, UK

Manchester United have made some serious transfer blunders over the years.

Antony has been a terrible signing for United at £85m, while Anthony Martial never lived up to his pricetag at Old Trafford.

The list is almost endless – Donny Van de🔥 Beek, Jadon Sancho, Ale🥂xis Sanchez and Raphael Varane are but a few more United signings that didn’t pan out.

Manchester United spent big again in the summer, and while Manuel Ugarte is receiving praise for his performances as of late, the same can’t be said of Joshua Zirkzee.

Zirkzee is the worst signing of the summer in the eyes of some, and according to David Ornstein, speaking on The Athletic FC Podcast, people within Manches🅠ter United believe that signing Zirkzee for was a mistake.

• READ MORE: The FA have now allowed Manchester United to ⛄do rare thing no other side can in the FA Cup this season

Joshua Zirkzee signing was a mistake

Ornstein shared what he’s been hearing about Zirkzee from his sources within Manchester🥃 United.

The jou🦋rnalist says that he doesn’t think Zirkzee will leave United this month, but the view within the club is that signing Zirkzee was a mistake.

“I think there’s been uncertainty around his immediate future because his transfer so far from Bologna hasn’t really gone to plan.🦄 There’s a feeling inside United at the moment that maybe that was a mistake,” Ornstein said.

“It i🍌s very early days, and this story focuses on him and his intentions. Despite a lot of interest reportedly buiꦛlding from elsewhere, he doesn’t intent to leave at the time of recording, and things can change.”

Joshua Zirkzee stats this season

Zirkzee has bee🍬n critcised heavily for his perꦯformances this season.

The Dutch striker does appear to be a tad slow for ♓the Premier League, and he appears to be bereft of confideꦫnce right now.

However, when you look at the attacker’s stats, they’re ♚actually not that bad.

Zirkzee is averaging a goal contribution every 175 minutes – once every two games♌, and that really isn’t a bad return forꩵ your second-choice striker.

There 🐲are plenty of strikers in the Premier League wওho have worse records, players who have received less criticism.

Zirkzee’s start at Manchester United hasn’t been great, there’s no doubt about that, but perha🐈ps it hasn’t actually been as bad as some have made out.

With a bit of confidence and a touch of luck, Zirkzee could still end up being a useful player for United, ev🧔enও if he doesn’t prove to be worth his £37m transfer fee.