Joshua Zirkzee suffers fresh blow on international duty amid Man Utd struggles
Joshua Zirzkee has endured an absolutely awful start to life with Manchester United and the Dutchman’s woes have only grown further on international duty with the Netherlands
by Daniel Orme · The MirrorManchester United star Joshua Zirkzee has been AXED from the Netherlands squad as his rotten season goes from bad to worse.
The Dutch striker has endured an awful start to life at Old Trafford. He has not scored for the Red Devils since August - Zirkzee netting on his debut following a big-money move from Bologna.
But despite his rotten form, Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman appeared to keep faith with Zirkzee. The striker has been named in each of his international squads this season.
That was no different this time around with the Manchester United star included for upcoming Nations League games against Hungary and Bosnia & Herzegovina. However, Zirkzee has been hit with a fresh blow.
Despite being handed a space, Zirkzee has been axed from the 23-man squad to take on Hungary on Saturday night. Bournemouth star Justin Kluivert also joined the striker in being cut ahead of the weekend’s game.
Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman had previously expressed his concern for Zirkzee after his difficult season so far. Speaking last month, he said: "It depends on the performances at the clubs, the matches they have played and that's what you look at.
"Maybe I said a bit too eagerly that I wanted a number one in the striker position. You can use one or the other in matches.
"In this situation, that is a possibility. That is why I am not committing myself to one person. This could be multiple international periods. It is also a development. Zirkzee has made a move to United, it's a difficult situation there, and [Rasmus] Hojlund is fit and he therefore played less."
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Zirkzee’s Netherlands omission is just the latest blow in the 23-year-old’s season. He was signed for £36.5m in the summer but has now gone 16 matches without a goal - albeit having started just seven of those games.
It has also recently been claimed that Zirkzee could also be set to leave Old Trafford as soon as January. Serie A giants Juventus have been linked with taking him back to Italy.
But legendary midfielder Claudio Marchisio has warned his former side away from a swoop. He said: “We’re talking about a player who has a lot of talent and showed it last year.
“It’s great when a player did well in a previous season with a specific coach, but not necessarily when the two go in different directions. Lots of times we try to get reuinte them and get them going again, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right path to take.
“We need to have faith in Vlahovic, who is still showing his talent. And we have to remember that he’s been doing it on his own. I hope that someone can arrive in January, including Milik returning to the pitch.”
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