\t\t\t14<\/i><\/p>\n
The Flying Dutchman. Serie A\u2019s Young Player of the Year. A \u201ccomplete player\u201d according to his manager; a \u201cphenomenon\u201d in the eyes of teammates. The reputation Joshua Zirkzee arrived at Old Trafford with in the summer of 2024 pales in comparison to his reality two years on \u2013 with an exit edging closer and closer.<\/p>\n
Good centre-forward, bad centre-forward<\/h5>\n
Signed from Bologna for \u00a336.5 million, with Manchester United slightly overpaying on his release clause to secure a more favourable payment structure, the 24-year-old Netherlands international has proven to be one of INEOS\u2019s poorest pieces of business \u2013 trumped only by Manuel, the unimpressive Uruguayan Ugarte.<\/p>\n
Nine goals and four assists in 75 appearances would be a poor return for a striker at a relegation candidate; it is dismal playing for one of England\u2019s elite, even if United have not lived up to this billing for much of the Schiedam native\u2019s time in M16. With the promised land of the Champions League on the horizon next season, however, the club\u2019s hierarchy is intent on improving Michael Carrick\u2019s squad to cope with the increased workload and quality of opposition.<\/p>\n
Accordingly, an ineffective centre-forward who offers neither goal threat nor creativity is not long for this world at the Theatre of Dreams, even if there are a host of clubs in Italy willing to give him a chance of a new life. Juventus are said to be leading the charge.<\/p>\n
If Zirkzee is to depart, INEOS want to sign a new striker to ease the goalscoring burden on Benjamin Sesko. The 22-year-old Slovenian endured a slow start following his \u00a374 million capture from RB Leipzig last summer, but exploded to life once Carrick took the helm in January.<\/p>\n
Despite being deployed mainly as a substitute by the 44-year-old English coach initially, Sesko still struck seven times across 595 minutes, equating to a goal every 85 minutes \u2013 the best conversion rate of any player in the Premier League last season. Off the pitch, the Rade\u010de native has impressed as well, with club sources praising his attitude and application in training, as well as the extra work he puts in to maximise recovery and recuperation.<\/p>\n
Clearly, United are happy with their 6\u20195\u2033 Slovenian striker in a way that they are not with the 6\u20193\u2033 Dutch disappointment backing him up from the bench. The plan is to replace Zirkzee with a more experienced No.9, with Crystal Palace frontman Jean-Phillipe Mateta one name on the radar.<\/p>\n
The logic is simple: a more reliable striker will provide a more reliable source of goals. But there are many ways to skin a cat; a team\u2019s attacking output can be improved without touching the forward line, for example, or by finding creative solutions internally to allow other positions to be improved by external candidates.<\/p>\n
Attack is the best form of defence<\/h5>\n
While a major revamp in midfield is Manchester United\u2019s focus this summer, the club is also exploring options on the left-hand side, with both full-backs and wingers under consideration.<\/p>\n
The fact that Luke Shaw started every Premier League match last year is one which will not be replicated this season as the team returns to playing two, or even three, games a week. As such, a new left-back is understood to be a priority, though the position Carrick envisions for Patrick Dorgu long-term will prove key.<\/p>\n
The 21-year-old Denmark international was reinvented as a rampaging wideman by Carrick, returning three goals in his three starts on the left wing, including one apiece in the back-to-back wins over Manchester City and Arsenal. The strike at the Emirates was undoubtedly United\u2019s goal of the season.<\/p>\n
If Dorgu remains stationed further forward next season, as last weekend\u2019s pre-season loss to Wrexham suggests, competition for Shaw will become essential. Newcastle United\u2019s Lewis Hall is the leading target, with sporting director Jason Wilcox a huge fan of the 21-year-old left-back.<\/p>\n
The Magpies would be loath to lose yet another key member of Eddie Howe\u2019s squad, particularly to United. But Hall is understood to be open to a switch to Old Trafford as he wants to continue playing in the Champions League, having lost his place under Howe towards the end of last season. Newcastle, by contrast, will not play in Europe at all after a 12th-placed finish.<\/p>\n
The Chelsea academy graduate is an outstanding technician, who serves as much an attacking purpose for Newcastle as he does defensively. He routinely overlapped Anthony Gordon, who departed St James\u2019 Park for FC Barcelona at the end of May, to provide an option down the outside, while also inverting into midfield to help with build-up play.<\/p>\n
If Carrick were able to swap Shaw for Hall, United\u2019s threat going forward would be significantly increased as the younger Englishman has the same technical quality as his elder, just without any of the physical limitations.<\/p>\n
Attack can often be the best form of defence. Hall would be a signing designed to overwhelm the opposition as much as provide an obstacle to them. It would also be a statement of intent to Manchester United\u2019s rivals, given Chelsea want to bring him back to Stamford Bridge and Newcastle United\u2019s fanbase would implode to see another star leave Tyneside.<\/p>\n
Neither club can offer him the chance to test himself amongst Europe\u2019s elite, however. The Red Devils can \u2013 and any funds generated by Zirkzee\u2019s sale should be used to ensure he arrives at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n
Fluid Frontline<\/h5>\n
Another argument for the decision to let the Dutchman depart without a deputy being signed to replace him is the number of options at Carrick\u2019s disposal who can play through the middle.<\/p>\n
For example, Matheus Cunha \u2013 almost exclusively a left-winger under Carrick \u2013 became only the sixth Manchester United player in the club\u2019s 148-year history to score three goals at the World Cup while wearing the No.9 shirt for Brazil.<\/p>\n
Despite Carlo Ancelotti initially preferring Brentford striker Igor Thiago, the Italian tactician quickly shifted to Cunha as his centre-forward \u2013 with the \u201cunreal\u201d 27-year-old delivering the goods.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Bryan Mbeumo \u2013 signed in the same window as Cunha \u2013 has also shown the ability to thrive centrally. Carrick often preferred the Cameroon international to Sesko last season, with Mbeumo returning five goals and two assists from January onwards. This included both opening goals in the wins over Manchester City and Arsenal while playing as a false nine.<\/p>\n
Unleashing Sesko from the bench in the second half against tired legs proved an excellent tactic for Carrick, even if it may feel counterintuitive not to roll with your favoured No.9 from the start. It would also allow Amad, who was outstanding at the World Cup for the Ivory Coast, more opportunities on the right, and, more controversially, Marcus Rashford the same on the left.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old England international is set to be reintegrated by Michael Carrick when he returns for pre-season next month, despite INEOS remaining intent on selling him. Barcelona\u2019s decision not to trigger the \u00a326 million buy-option was a major blow, for Rashford and United.<\/p>\n
However, the law of unintended consequences dictates this could actually prove a positive for the Red Devils, given the Carrington graduate\u2019s return to form with the Spanish giant was replicated for the Three Lions at the World Cup. <\/p>\n
Marcus Rashford Stats: 2025\/26 Season<\/h2>\n
| Competition<\/th>\n | Appearances<\/th>\n | Starts<\/th>\n | Goals<\/th>\n | Assists<\/th>\n | Yellow Cards<\/th>\n | Red Cards<\/th>\n | Minutes Played<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LaLiga<\/td>\n | 32<\/td>\n | 18<\/td>\n | 8<\/td>\n | 9<\/td>\n | 3<\/td>\n | –<\/td>\n | 1,762′<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| UEFA Champions League<\/td>\n | 11<\/td>\n | 5<\/td>\n | 5<\/td>\n | 4<\/td>\n | –<\/td>\n | –<\/td>\n | 579′<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| King’s Cup<\/td>\n | 4<\/td>\n | 3<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | –<\/td>\n | –<\/td>\n | 249′<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Super Cup<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | –<\/td>\n | –<\/td>\n | –<\/td>\n | –<\/td>\n | 32′<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Total<\/strong><\/td>\n| 49<\/strong><\/td>\n | 26<\/strong><\/td>\n | 14<\/strong><\/td>\n | 14<\/strong><\/td>\n | 3<\/strong><\/td>\n | –<\/strong><\/td>\n | 2,622′<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n | Carrick is understood to be open to working with Rashford, having previously enjoyed a positive relationship while the Wallsend native was an assistant coach under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. If he can get a tune out of the forward similar to Erik ten Hag\u2019s first season, a fluid frontline of Rashford, Cunha and Mbeumo, backed up by Sesko, Amad and Dorgu, is a tantalising prospect for United fans.<\/p>\n There are obvious downsides to Rashford\u2019s return, chief amongst them his exorbitant wages, worth around \u00a317 million a year once the Champions League bonus kicks in. There is also the possibility of the attitude problem which led to his expulsion from Old Trafford in the first place rearing its ugly head again.<\/p>\n But Carrick\u2019s hand is fair before it is firm. If anyone can get Rashford onside, it is him \u2013 and definitely not a prickly Portuguese with a system that had no use for wingers who like to play on the last man.<\/p>\n If INEOS are able to sell Zirkzee to make room for Rashford, while putting whatever money is banked by the Dutchman\u2019s departure towards Hall, Manchester United will become a far more potent force going forward, while making experienced operators like Shaw and Cunha Swiss Army Knives for Carrick to cope with the hope of a 55-60 game campaign this season. Ninety-nine problems but the No.9 aint one.<\/p>\n Featured image George Wood via Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n The Peoples Person has been one of the world\u2019s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 14 The Flying Dutchman. Serie A\u2019s Young Player of the Year. A \u201ccomplete player\u201d according…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |
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