Joshua Zirkzee’s first full season at Manchester United was not without its challenges. AFter signing from BOlogna in a £36 million deal, the Dutch striker scored a winning goal against Fulham on his debut, but it took him a further 21 appearances to net his next one.
Zirkzee was signed to become a striker under Erik ten Hag, but once Rúben Amorim joined the club, the 23-year-old’s role changed.
He became a very intelligent player in the two attacking-midfield positions. He started to cement himself as an essential player within Amorim’s system, although a hamstring injury against Newcastle in April cut his season short early.
Despite initial reports that his agent was orchestrating a loan move to Juventus for the 2025/26 season, his rise under Amorim since the start of 2025 saw this agreement cut, and he is not expected to continue as a vital part of United’s squad across the coming campaign.
Fernandes’ public praise for Zirkzee against Arsenal
In December last year, Zirkzee’s time at United hit rock bottom as the player was substituted after just 33 minutes despite being played from the start against Newcastle, leading to ironic jeers from United fans.
However, a little over a month later, he became a hero, scoring a winning penalty in an FA Cup shootout against Arsenal, cementing himself as a firm fan favourite and kicking on an impressive run of form.
Speaking after that game, United club captain Bruno Fernandes had only the highest praise for Zirkzee, stating that he believed that the “script was written” for Zirkzee to go on and score that winning effort against Arsenal after the tough start he had to endure at United.
“The script was already there for a long time,” Fernandes explained. “You know, when you are a good person, when you do the right things, you can have bad moments, but at the end everything will come through strong.
“It was a decision by the staff to pick the five players to have the penalty, and they put Josh last. And the only thing that came into my mind was to tell the players that the script is done.
“So everything is done since that moment against Newcastle that prepared us to, in this moment, give Josh his moment and his credit and his flowers.
“We can talk about whatever people want to talk about, like ‘penalties, it’s easy.’ It’s how we got to penalties. Altay saved the penalty [in regulation time] from Martin Odegaard who hadn’t missed one in his professional career yet.
“And then Josh, in a moment of pressure with everything he’s been through in his mind, steps up and and gives us the win.”
Zirkzee’s reaction to Fernandes says it all
Fernandes’ strong words were well received by United fans across the world, who agreed with the club captain, although it appears the quotes never quite reached Zirkzee.
The Dutchman recently conducted an interview with club media where they took him through some of the quotes that had been said about him during the season, one set of which was the above words from Fernandes.
Bruno said that? Yeah, nice words, man,” Zirkzee said in reaction to hearing what Fernandes had to say for the first time. “I wish he’d tell them to me as well sometimes in person.”
Asked further whether Fernandes is a player who has similar high standards to head coach Amorim, Zirkzee replied: “Bruno’s the captain. Bruno will go to war for any of us. So, I expect nothing less than this.”
It is no secret that Fernandes was close to leaving United this summer after he was handed a mega-money contract offer from Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal, but turned it down to continue committing himself to United’s project.
Zirkzee’s reaction to Fernandes’ comments, where the kind words take him aback, shows everything about United’s captain. More than just being the club’s best player, he is also someone who sacrifices everything he has to raise the level of all those around him – a mentality that Amorim will lean on next season.
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