In Joshua Zirkzee, Manchester United have signed a striker like no other

Zirkzee was the talk of the town at the start of the summer with a number of the world's biggest clubs being linked with him including United, AC Milan and Arsenal following his excellent season at Bologna.

Erik ten Hag's club were ultimately the ones to get him, paying around €40 million to secure his services and handing him a five-year deal, and he immediately began to repay that fee by scoring the winning goal on his debut against Fulham. 

So, what kind of player do the Red Devils have on their hands and can he succeed in the strongest league in the world? 

From Bayern to Brussels to Bologna

It was clear from a young age that Zirkzee was a big talent, hence why Dutch giants Feyenoord signed him from ADO Den Haag when he was 12 and why Bayern Munich signed him from Feyenoord a year later. 

After making his way through the youth ranks at Bayern, he scored a hat-trick on his debut for their reserve team in March of 2019 before making his senior debut in August of that same year. The Dutchman then scored a last-minute winner on his Bundesliga debut in December and got four goals in 12 matches over the course of that season.

However, first-team opportunities were hard to come by due to the presence of Robert Lewandowski, so Zirkzee was sent out on loan to Parma in January 2021. Things didn't work out there though with him making just four appearances, and it wasn't until he joined Anderlecht on loan that summer that his career really got up and running.

Playing under Vincent Kompany, he was the Belgian club's first-choice striker and one of the country's best, getting 15 goals and eight assists in 32 league starts. Unsurprisingly, they were keen to sign him permanently at the end of the season, but his future lay in northern Italy. 

He was signed by Bologna in the summer of 2022 with Bayern insisting on a buy-back clause, but it was a clause that didn't look likely to ever be activated after his first season, during which he got just two goals in 19 appearances with the majority of those being off the bench. 

Thiago Motta had joined at the same time and wanted to play a system with one striker, and he quickly opted for Marko Arnautovic over the Dutchman, who himself later admitted that at that time he "wasn't ready mentally, not like Motta wanted anyway". However, a few "clips around the ear" from the manager got him into shape, and when Arnautovic left for Inter, the young striker was ready.

In what was one of Bologna's best seasons ever, he was their standout player. His tally of 12 goals and seven assists may not look particularly remarkable but the numbers only tell half the story, with the forward creating a huge amount of chances for his teammates in his role as something of a false nine.

He was rewarded for his performances with Serie A's Young Player of the Season award, a EURO 2024 call-up, and a move to Manchester United.

The Rotterdam Ronaldinho 

Looking at his 1.93m stature, you may think Zirkzee is a target man who thrives in the air and inside the box. If so, think again.

He's often cited Zlatan Ibrahimovic as one of his biggest inspirations, and there are undoubtedly similarities between the two. Like the Swede, the Dutchman is best with the ball at his feet in spite of his height, has near-flawless technique, and has a real taste for the spectacular.

However, Ibrahimovic was lethal inside the box and was a goalscorer above anything else, which can't be said for Zirkzee, as shown by a comparison made by Motta last season. 

“He said his idols are Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gabriel Batistuta, who are two excellent players, but, seeing him day-to-day, he reminds me of the Ronaldinho I played with at Barcelona,” said the Italian. 

It may seem odd to say a tall striker is similar to Ronaldinho, but when you watch Zirkzee you quickly understand. He loves to run with the ball, loves to take players on and loves the odd trick. Like the Brazilian, he plays with the flair and audacity of someone playing five-a-side with their friends.

In fact, his footballing career began on the Cruyff Courts of Rotterdam, small pitches set up by the Dutch legends' foundation, and he says that had a big impact on the type of player he became.  

"It makes you tough, you have to be smarter, you have to find a way to keep up with guys that are bigger and stronger than you," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I learned on the streets - and that's where creativity comes to life."

Given his creative tendencies, he generally prefers to play alongside a strike partner who will provide the threat in behind and in the box, allowing him to roam around the pitch as he pleases.

Will he make it in Manchester?

So, can the man who described himself as "not a number nine, not a number 10, but a 9.5" succeed at Manchester United?

Well, on paper at least, the perfect strike partner for him is already there in Rasmus Hojlund, who likes to stay high and makes runs behind the opposition backline. 

There's space for both in the two systems that Ten Hag most commonly uses - they could play alongside each other in a 4-4-2 setup or Zirkzee could play as the number 10 in a 4-2-3-1.

However, playing both would require star player Bruno Fernandes to move out to the right wing where he's generally not as effective, so it seems more likely that the two young strikers will battle it out for the spot next to the captain.

If Zirkzee wants to win that battle, he'll have to change his game, making more runs in behind and getting into the box more - if he plays like he did at Bologna, there's a danger of him and Fernandes trying to do a similar job from a similar area of the pitch and ending up in each other's way.

Given that, there's a chance the Dutchman ends up - initially, at least - serving primarily as a backup to the Dane and Fernandes, but there's still plenty of time for him to adapt and become a bigger threat in front of goal, and his winner against Fulham is a positive sign on that front.

His typically excellent link-up play was on display for that goal with him dropping deep to pick up the ball with his back to goal before spreading it out wide, but he then followed that up with a perfectly timed run into the box and an instinctive finish.

If he can master that art, he'll become a near-complete striker in a similar mould to Harry Kane, elite as both a playmaker and goalscorer. 

Ultimately, whether such a maverick can thrive in the intensity of the Premier League where structure and stability are beginning to reign supreme - just look at how champions Manchester City play - is very much unclear, but if he can, it will be spectacular.