‘Sir Alex Ferguson managed me at Man Utd – current star would be done under him’
Manchester United summer signing Joshua Zirkzee ‘would be done’ at Old Trafford if Sir Alex Ferguson was still in charge of the club.
That is the opinion of former United goalkeeper Ben Foster after a series of underwhelming performances from the Dutch forward.
Zirkzee joined the Red Devils from Bologna in a transfer worth £36.5million and got off to a dream start, scoring a late winner on his debut against Fulham.
But he’s recorded just three goals and two assists in his subsequent 27 appearances, with fans and pundits still unsure of his best position or what he brings to the game.
Most recently, the 23-year-old was criticised for spurning the chance to secure a last-second win against Liverpool at Anfield.
Prior to that, Ruben Amorim subbed Zirkzee off after just 33 minutes of United’s match against Newcastle United after the Red Devils went 2-0 down.
Zirkzee was understandably irked by the early substitution and initially walked down the tunnel and back to the changing room – much to the anger of fans – before returning to United’s bench for the rest of the game.
Foster, who spent five years at Old Trafford under Ferguson, was stunned by Zirkzee’s actions and says it would not have been tolerated by the legendary United manager.
‘When he walked off down the tunnel… If Alex Ferguson would have been manager, that player would have been done,’ Foster said on his YouTube channel.
‘Whoever that is, if you walk off that pitch when you’ve been brought off after 30 minutes, get a coat and walk straight into the dressing room. You’re done. I promise you, you’re done. It just doesn’t work like that.
‘And I guarantee you, when he got back to the changing room, somebody would have said to him, “You need to get back outside. This is not a good look”. The camera has just watched you walk all the way down the line, the fans are booing.
‘It is a horrible situation. I really feel for him. At that moment in time, the atmosphere in Old Trafford was horrible. United were getting pumped.
‘They were on the back foot and it was almost like he was the scapegoat. He was just one of 11 problems on that pitch.’
With Zirkzee failing to deliver on the pitch and seemingly not a player Amorim fully trusts, there has been much speculation that his time at United is already over.
Reports say that Juventus are very interested in signing the player, which would reunite him with his former Bologna manager Thiago Motta.
It was thought Zirkzee was keen on the move, but the latest word is that the forward wants to remain in Manchester for now and fight for his place in the team.
The Dutch international may get the chance to impress on Sunday when United travel to Arsenal for a huge FA Cup third round clash.
Amorim has been keen to defend his player amid the struggling performances, claiming Zirkzee made the right call not to go for a match-winning goal in that aforementioned draw at Liverpool.
‘For me, I think it was the perfect decision because he can shoot but he put the ball more in the centre,’ the Reds Devils head coach said.
‘The ball was really slow for Harry to score but sometimes you cannot do it. But Josh made a good decision in my opinion.’
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