Joshua Zirkzee has joined Manchester United, seven years after declining an offer from Everton, feeling now prepared to compete in the Premier League.
Zirkzee finalized a £36.5 million transfer to Manchester United on Sunday and is expected to debut in English football following his return from holiday after participating in Euro 2024 with the Netherlands.
The 23-year-old forward has previously played professionally in Germany, Belgium, and Italy and had a stint with Everton’s Under-19 team in 2017, giving him a glimpse of English football.
While in Feyenoord’s academy, Zirkzee attracted interest from several clubs, including Arsenal. A move to Everton seemed likely after he played for their youth team in a tournament in Prague.
Ronald Koeman, Everton’s manager at the time, appeared to have secured Zirkzee’s transfer due to his connections with Feyenoord, a club he had both played for and managed. However, Zirkzee, then 16, declined the move, citing the difficulty of breaking into English football. He told the Dutch publication HLN: “I could have gone to Everton, they pressed hard, but breaking through in England, that’s complex.”
Instead of making an early move to England, Zirkzee chose to continue his development in the Netherlands before transferring to Bayern Munich a year later, where he was part of the team that won the continental Treble in the 2019/20 season.
After a successful season at Bologna, where he scored 12 goals across all competitions, helping the club qualify for the Champions League, Zirkzee has decided he is now ready to test himself in England. He will be joining Manchester United as the first signing of the INEOS era.
