 Zirkzee playing forBayern Munich in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joshua Orobosa Zirkzee[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (2001-05-22)22 May 2001 (age 24)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Schiedam, Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[3] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Manchester United | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2010 | VV Hekelingen | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2013 | Spartaan '20 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2016 | ADO Den Haag | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Feyenoord | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Bayern Munich | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2021 | Bayern Munich II | 32 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2022 | Bayern Munich | 12 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | →Parma (loan) | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | →Anderlecht (loan) | 38 | (16) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | Bologna | 53 | (13) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Manchester United | 48 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Netherlands U15 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Netherlands U16 | 6 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Netherlands U17 | 2 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Netherlands U18 | 7 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Netherlands U19 | 9 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2023 | Netherlands U21 | 19 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Netherlands | 6 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:18, 10 February 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:13, 19 November 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Joshua Orobosa Zirkzee (born 22 May 2001) is a Dutch professionalfootballer who plays as aforward forPremier League clubManchester United and theNetherlands national team.
Zirkzee is a graduate ofBayern Munich's youth system and made 17 first-team appearances for the club. While at Bayern, he had loan spells atParma andAnderlecht. Zirkzee signed forBologna in August 2022. In the2023–24 season he was named in theSerie A Team of the Year and won the league's Best Under-23 award. He joined Manchester United in July 2024.
Zirkzee made more than 40 appearances for the Netherlands at youth international level. He made his senior international debut in July 2024, atUEFA Euro 2024.
Born inSchiedam to a Nigerian mother and a Dutch father, Zirkzee began his footballing career as a five-year-old with VV Hekelingen after the family had moved toSpijkenisse.[4] After impressing early on, he moved to the youth department of Spartaan '20 in 2010,[4] where he played alongside his cousin,Nelson Amadin.[5] He then left forADO Den Haag in 2013, before ending up in theFeyenoord youth academy in 2016.[6] One year later, Zirkzee left theFeyenoord academy in his native Netherlands to join theyouth setup ofBayern Munich.[7]
On 1 March 2019, Zirkzee scored ahat-trick in his debut forBayern Munich II.[7] Just a day later, he scored the winning goal for the under-19 side as they defeated1. FC Nürnberg 2–1.[7] Zirkzee made his professional debut in the3. Liga for Bayern Munich II on 20 July 2019, coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute forOliver Batista Meier in the away match againstWürzburger Kickers.[8]
On 11 December 2019, Zirkzee made his debut for thesenior team againstTottenham Hotspur in the final group stage match of theChampions League.[9] He subsequently made hisBundesliga debut on 18 December, coming on as a substitute in the 90th minute in a match againstFreiburg tied at 1–1; he scored the winner almost immediately after entering the game. Shortly after,Serge Gnabry added another stoppage-time goal to secure a 3–1 victory.[10] Two days later, he again came off the bench in the final minutes of the game and scored the winning goal as Bayern defeatedWolfsburg.[11] On 13 June 2020, Zirkzee scored the opening goal in Bayern Munich's 2–1 win againstBorussia Mönchengladbach.[12] He finished off his debut season with acontinental treble.
On 31 January 2021, Zirkzee moved to Italian clubParma on a loan deal.[13] The deal included an option to buy.[13] On 2 April 2021, he suffered anLCL injury,[14] and his loan was limited to four appearances, all as a substitute.
On 3 August 2021,Anderlecht announced the signing of Zirkzee on a season-long loan fromBayern Munich.[15] He finished the 2021–22 season as the club's top scorer with 16 goals, in addition to providing nine assists in 34 league starts.[16]
On 30 August 2022, Zirkzee transferred toSerie A clubBologna on a permanent deal.[17] Later that year, on 16 October, he scored his first goal at the club, by netting the opener in a 3–2 defeat againstNapoli.[18] In his second season under coachThiago Motta, he managed to score eight goals in 16 games in the first half of the 2023–24 campaign, attracting transfer interest from several top European clubs with his former clubBayern Munich still having a 40% cut of any possible transfer fee.[19] He ultimately finished the season as Bologna's top scorer, netting 11 league goals and providing four assists,[20] helping his club secure a berth in the Champions League group stage.[21]
On 14 July 2024,Premier League clubManchester United announced the signing of Zirkzee on a five-year contract for a fee of £36.5m.[22] He made his debut as a substitute inthe season's opening fixture againstFulham on 16 August, where he scored the match's only goal.[23][24] He made his first start for United in a 3–0 defeat torivalsLiverpool atOld Trafford on 1 September.[25] On 1 December, he scored a brace to help Manchester United secure a 4–0 victory overEverton.[26] On 30 December, he was booed by the Old Trafford crowd as he was substituted off the pitch in the 33rd minute of a 2–0 defeat toNewcastle United.[27][28]
On 12 January 2025, Zirkzee scored the winning penalty againstArsenal in the third round of theFA Cup following a 1–1 draw after extra time.[29] On 2 March, he missed the deciding penalty againstFulham in the fifth round of the FA Cup as the holders were knocked out after losing the shootout 3–4 following a 1–1 draw after extra time.[30] In the following match on 6 March, he scored his first goal in Europe, the opener in the first leg of United'sEuropa League round of 16 tie away toReal Sociedad, which finished a 1–1 draw.[31] On 13 April, in a match against Newcastle United, he suffered a hamstring injury, with head coachRuben Amorim confirming that the injury ruled him out for the rest of the season.[32] However, Zirkzee made an unexpected return before the end of the season, as Amorim confirmed he would be available for the Europa League final againstTottenham Hotspur.[33]
Born in the Netherlands to a Dutch father and a Nigerian mother, Zirkzee was eligible to represent the Netherlands or Nigeria at international level.[34][35][36] He played youth international football for the Netherlands at under-15,[37][38]under-16,[39]under-17,[40]under-18,[41]under-19[42] andunder-21 levels.[43]
On 12 June 2024, Zirkzee was added to theNetherlands senior team'ssquad for theUEFA Euro 2024 tournament in Germany. He had not initially been chosen, but was called up by head coachRonald Koeman following injuries to Dutch midfieldersFrenkie de Jong andTeun Koopmeiners.[44] On 6 July, he earned his first international cap during a 2–1 victory overTurkey in the quarter-finals, becoming the third player to debut for the Netherlands during a European competition followingMartien Vreijsen (Euro 1980) andCody Gakpo (2020).[45]
Zirkzee is a versatileforward. His height and strength enable him to be dominant in the air as well as play with his back to goal and hold up the ball. Despite his tall frame, he has excellent technique and dribbling abilities which also allow him to drop deeper into a more traditionalplaymaker position.[46]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Bayern Munich II | 2018–19 | Regionalliga Bayern | 12 | 4 | — | — | — | — | 12 | 4 | ||||
| 2019–20 | 3. Liga | 16 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 2 | |||||
| 2020–21 | 3. Liga | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 32 | 6 | — | — | — | — | 32 | 6 | ||||||
| Bayern Munich | 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 1[c] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | |
| 2020–21 | Bundesliga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[c] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Total | 12 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 4 | |||
| Parma (loan) | 2020–21 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Anderlecht (loan) | 2021–22 | Belgian Pro League | 38 | 16 | 6 | 2 | — | 3[e] | 0 | — | 47 | 18 | ||
| Bologna | 2022–23 | Serie A | 19 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 21 | 2 | |||
| 2023–24 | Serie A | 34 | 11 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | 37 | 12 | ||||
| Total | 53 | 13 | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | 58 | 14 | |||||
| Manchester United | 2024–25 | Premier League | 32 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 11[f] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 7 |
| 2025–26 | Premier League | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 2 | |||
| Total | 48 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 9 | ||
| Career total | 187 | 44 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 225 | 51 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2024 | 6 | 1 |
| Total | 6 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 September 2024 | Philips Stadion,Eindhoven, Netherlands | 3 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1–0 | 5–2 | 2024–25 UEFA Nations League A | [49] |
Bayern Munich II
Bayern Munich
Individual
Via zijn neef Nelson Amadin, die nu bij FC Dordrecht speelt, belandde Zirkzee ooit bij Spartaan '20. Daar, na drie jaar, waren de scouts van ADO de eersten die hem rijp vonden voor betaald voetbal.
Zirkzee speelde van 2013 tot 2016 in de jeugdopleiding vanADO Den Haag.
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