Manchester United summer signing Joshua Zirkzee has been branded an ‘absolute imposter’ and ‘one of the worst players to ever play’ for the Premier League giants.
United signed Zirkzee from Serie A side Bologna last summer in a deal worth £36.5m.
Zirkzee scored 14 goals in 58 appearances for Bologna and had begun to feature regularly for the Netherlands when Manchester United secured his signature on a five-year deal.
The 23-year-old forward scored on his Premier League debut but then went more than three months without a goal, finally ending his drought in the 4-0 win over Everton in Ruben Amorim’s second game in charge.
A brace against Sean Dyche’s Toffees failed to kick-start Zirkzee’s United career, however, and he was brutally subbed off in the first half of last month’s Premier League defeat against Newcastle United.
Given his dismal spell at the Theatre of Dreams, Zirkzee has been linked with a move away from Manchester United just six months since his arrival, with Juventus believed to be interested in a January deal.
If he remains at United, Zirkzee will look to get his United career back on track and begin to justify his £36.5m move, though ex-Premier League midfielder Jamie O’Hara cannot see that happening.
‘Joshua Zirkzee is one of the worst players I’ve ever seen in a Manchester United shirt,’ he told Grosvenor Sport.
‘It’s unbelievable that he’s playing for them. He’s an absolute imposter!’
The former Tottenham star added: ‘Manchester United are absolutely terrible – they’re one of the worst teams in the Premier League at the moment.
‘They’re awful at the back and their midfield is non-existent. Their options in attack are terrible as well – Amad Diallo is the only player who looks like he deserves to play for them.
‘I feel for Ruben Amorim a bit – he did really well at Sporting Lisbon and implemented a formation that did well for them, but it clearly doesn’t work at Man United and in the Premier League.
‘Does he die by the sword and continue to play 3-4-3 when it doesn’t work in this division? I don’t think the formation suits this league – it’s too fast paced and demands too much from the players, especially in midfield.
‘I think he’s a good manager, but he’s going to have to change the formation until he gets the personnel he wants, or otherwise he will lose his job – the club will have to sack him if things continue like this.’
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Zirkzee scored just his fourth goal for Manchester United in last month’s Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham.
He did, however, score the penalty which sent United through to the fourth round of the FA Cup and condemned Arsenal to an early exit.
Following that win at the Emirates Stadium, Harry Maguire reassured Zirkzee that the United squad were backing him to come good at Old Trafford.
‘I’ve had a time for this club where things are tough, and everyone seems to be against you,’ the England defender said.
‘But one thing’s for sure is that the United fans stick with you. When times were tough, they stuck with me.
‘That game against Newcastle he was the unfortunate one to get brought off. You could have subbed any of the 11 players off at that moment in time and they would have all got booed, because we all deserved to get booed because we were awful in the first 30 minutes.
‘He was the unfortunate one that the manager [subbed off] because of the tactical nous of it. Kobbie [Mainoo] came on and changed the game really.
‘It had nothing to do really with Josh. He probably knows that and he probably felt it at the time, even though it was disappointing for him.
‘It’s a great ending that he scores that winning penalty – and the lads had full faith in him because that’s what he does.’
Zirkzee was recently named by Manchester United legend Paul Scholes was one of eight players the club should be looking to move on.
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