If Manchester United fans are hoping for an early impact from Joshua Zirkzee at Old Trafford, they need only look to his first few minutes in a Bayern Munich shirt five years ago.
At the time, the 18-year-old striker was used in some of Hansi Flick’s first games as Bayern coach, in a season in which the Bavarians would go on to win the triple crown of the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League.
Despite not being a regular, Zirkzee played a key role in the national championship success.
In December 2019, Bayern sat fifth in the table and appeared to be losing momentum even further as they drew 1-1 in Freiburg after 90 minutes.
Zirkzee was sent off and the Dutchman needed just 104 seconds to make a huge impact on his Bundesliga debut, latching onto a pass from Serge Gnabry, who would also score in stoppage time to seal Bayern’s 3-1 victory.
A few days later, Zirkzee came off the bench and rescued them again, at home against Wolfsburg. This time it took him 149 seconds to find the goal in the 85th minute before Gnabry scored another in a 2-0 victory.
Zirkzee’s sudden emergence on the international stage was the reward for a journey that began in 2007 at local club VV Hekelingen in Spijkenisse, before a spell at Spartaan ’20 saw him join the professional team of ADO den Haag.
After three years he moved to the Feyenoord academy, with the youngster becoming a versatile striker in his formative years, with a very good eye for goal.
Zirkzee impressed while playing with the under-16s and under-17s in the same season at Feyenoord, winning the league with the former and the cup with the latter and scoring plenty of goals in the process.
Although several under-17 players were offered contracts, Zirkzee had to wait before closing the deal and it was at this point that he became receptive to joining other clubs as well, looking for a little more security.
Rivals Ajax and PSV Eindhoven were not options for him as he felt he could not do that with Feyenoord.
In the summer of 2017, a move abroad seemed more likely and two clubs were seriously interested – one of them was a surprise Premier League contender.
The battle for the youngster was between Bayern Munich and Everton, where Zirkzee played two matches at an international youth tournament in the Czech Republic.
“Everton was a serious option for me because Ronald Koeman was the first-team coach and I didn’t have many strikers in front of me at that time,” he told me in an interview in 2019.
“Romelu Lukaku went to Manchester United that summer and Everton gave me the feeling there was a good chance of going there. When I was there they offered me a contract straight away.”
Even so, Zirkzee waited until he received an offer from Bayern.
It took a while, but it ended up happening after an inventive suggestion from the attacker himself.
“Initially they looked at two of my games at Feyenoord, which weren’t my best games, so Bayern weren’t sure yet. So I just told them: ‘let me train three times with you and assess whether I’m OK’. Enough is enough.” then’.”
The Bavarian team agreed to his proposal, after which the young man convinced Bayern to offer him a deal.
“At that time, young Dutch players used to go to England,” he recalled. “I was actually one of the first to go to Germany. I thought, this is something different, I’d like to take on this challenge.”
He started with the under-17 team, but soon moved to the under-19 team, and in the second season he was already part of the second team.
On a few occasions he was invited to train with the first team and joined them at training camps in the United States and Qatar. Suddenly, he shared a dressing room with Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller and Manuel Neuer.
However, patience was required, as his debut in the main team was not immediate.
Flick eventually brought him into the matchday squad for the Champions League game against Tottenham Hotspur, in which he made his official debut, before making vital contributions in the league games against Freiburg and Wolfsburg.
Zirkzee’s goals were crucial, meaning Bayern trailed leaders RB Leipzig by four points instead of eight, before closing the gap and eventually becoming champions.
Then loan moves to Parma and Anderlecht to gain more first-team experience, with the Belgian club being particularly successful.
Zirkzee scored 15 league goals and registered eight assists in a team coached by current Bayern coach Vincent Kompany.
In those years he also represented the Dutch Under-21 team, with his coach Erwin van de Looi explaining at the Voetbal International two years ago how Zirkzee excelled as a striker.
“What makes Joshua special, in my opinion, is that he combines his best qualities – technique, strength, power and ability to receive the ball – with efficiency,” he said.
The following season he was sold to Bologna and again had to be patient, being used mainly as a substitute in his first campaign for the Serie A side.
In his second year, Zirkzee made rapid progress and, with 11 goals and five assists, played an important role in securing Champions League football for the Emilia-Romagna side.
His displays eventually earned him a place in Koeman’s Dutch Euro 2024 squad after Teun Koopmeiners had to withdraw through injury.
The 23-year-old came on in the quarter-final victory over Turkey, earning his first cap.
Soon after reaching the semi-final with his country, it emerged that his move to Old Trafford was almost complete.
Zirkzee will add a wide range of skills to the Manchester United dressing room, with his versatility being a very valuable asset to Erik ten Hag.
In recent years, he has developed more depth in his game, making deep runs, added to his qualities in receiving and possessing the ball and skillful dribbling.
His technique and creativity stand out as well as his ability to put teammates in goal positions. Fellow striker Rasmus Hojlund will probably be very happy with the Dutchman’s arrival.
And if Zirkzee can have the same instant impact he had in the Bundesliga five years ago, United fans will be very happy too.
