Manchester United have confirmed the signing of Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna.
The 23-year-old striker has agreed a five-year deal, with the option to extend for a further 12 months, and becomes the club's first signing of the summer transfer window.
A message from our first signing of the summer 😁👋#MUFC pic.twitter.com/nW1d6Qra34
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 14, 2024
"I am a player who has always dedicated everything to winning; I’m ready for this next challenge, to go to another level in my career and win more trophies," Zirkzee told the official club website.
"It is a privilege to join such an iconic club. I have to take a short break now after being with the national team, but I’ll be coming back ready to make an impact straight away."
Who is Zirkzee?
Zirkzee was born on 22 May 2001 in Schiedam, Netherlands and joined Bayern Munich's youth set-up from Feyenoord in 2017.
After two years, Zirkzee was given his first-team debut by Hansi Flick on 18 December and marked it in perfect fashion with a goal in a 3-1 league win against Freiburg. Impressively, his strike came in the second minute of second-half stoppage time with the scoreline still level.
The Dutchman went on to make a further 16 appearances in all competitions for Bayern, scoring three more goals. He won two Bundesliga titles, the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, the DFB-Pokal and two DFL-Supercups.
Zirkzee spent time on loan at Serie A side Parma for the second part of the 2020/21 campaign before an impressive loan spell the following season under Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht in the Belgian Pro League.
He scored 18 goals and provided 13 assists in 47 matches. Following his return from Belgium, Zirzkee was then sold to Bologna in 2022.
After a slow first season in Serie A, Zirkzee excelled in 2023/24, scoring 11 goals and assisting five times as Bologna qualified for the Champions League for the first time in the club's history.
That form earned Zirkzee a place in the Netherlands' UEFA EURO 2024 squad, as he made his first appearance in the Dutch's 2-1 quarter-final victory against Turkey before briefly appearing in their semi-final defeat to England.
So, what was said between Joshua and Kobbie after the #EURO2024 semi-final? 👀😉#MUFC pic.twitter.com/NeRGaSRLat
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 14, 2024
Man Utd begin their pre-season against Rosenborg in Norway on Monday.
The Red Devils then kick off the their Premier League season on Friday 16 August at home to Fulham.
