The agent of Joshua Zirkzee has been criticised for taking his client to Man Utd after the Premier League club has “become a cesspool”.
The Red Devils had an awful 2024/25 season with Ruben Amorim only able to guide Man Utd to a 15th-placed finish in the Premier League.
Only four Premier League sides scored fewer goals than Man Utd last term, leading to INEOS investing around £200m to bring Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko to Old Trafford in the summer.
Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund came under fire for their lack of contributions last campaign with the duo contributing just seven Premier League goals between them.
Hojlund joined Serie A champions Napoli on loan until the end of the season, while Zirkzee has fallen down the pecking order this term with the Netherlands international failing to start a game in any competition.
Zirkzee swapped Italian side Bologna for Man Utd in the summer of 2024 in a deal worth £36.5m and one Italian analyst thinks his agent sold him out, rather than thinking about the Dutchman’s career.
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Franco Ordine told TuttoMercatoWeb: “The question isn’t whether he’s a fraud or a great player, but he took the wrong path. He ended up at a club that’s become a cesspool, just look at how [Rasmus] Hojlund was reborn in Naples.
“The agent chose money instead of thinking about his client’s career.”
Odine’s comments come after football finance expert Stefan Borson insisted that Zirkzee has “not been a complete disaster” for Man Utd as they could probably offload him for roughly the same price.
Borson told Football Insider: “Well, he’s a very sellable player. I mean, they didn’t pay £60-70m for him. They paid between £30-40m.
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“His wages are probably manageable. He’s been an okay player. He’s not been a complete disaster. I think there are signs that he could be worth £30m to somebody.
“I think the sorts of teams that could afford £30m or a loan with a view to a £30m deal are the Everton’s and the West Ham’s of this world.”
Borson added: “I think it’s perfectly plausible that he will leave. He’s got very little game time this season, so I would think there’s a good chance that that sort of deal would be done either in January or in the summer unless he gets himself into the team.
“But it’s a very doable deal. United won’t make a big profit on it, but they won’t make a big loss. It’s just moving on a player who is outside of the core group going forward. I think that makes sense.”