Joshua Zirkzee Biography & Full Career Details
Joshua Zirkzee is a professional footballer from the Netherlands. He is known for his unique style of play and his impressive records at youth level. Recently, he secured a move to Manchester United‘s senior team. This move has been surrounded by speculations and rumors about his life and career.
That’s where this article comes in. In this biography article, you will be reading about Joshua Zirkzee’s early life and career as a professional footballer. First, let’s check out some interesting features of Jack Zirkzee’s profile.
Profile Rundown
Full Name: Joshua Orobosa Zirkzee.
Date Of Birth: May 22nd, 2001.
Age: 24 years.
Place Of Birth: Schiedam, Netherlands.
Occupation: Footballer.
Height: 1.93m.
Position: Forward.
Marital Status: Single.
Joshua Zirkzee Early Life
Joshua Orobosa Zirkzee was born on the 22nd of May 2001. This means that by calculation, he is about 23 years of age as of 2024. He was born in Schiedam to a Nigerian mother and a Dutch father.
The name “Orobosa” can be traced down to one of the tribes in Edo State, Nigeria. This means that Zirkzee has roots that reach deep into the core Nigerian ethnic groups.
Joshua Zirkzee Club Career
Joshua Zirkzee started playing football at the tender age of five. At that age, he played for one of the youth teams of VV Hekelingen, a well-known club team in Spijkenisse. After spending some time at the club, Zirkzee then moved to join his cousin at Spartan.
In 2013, due to his rapid progress, he was transferred to the ADC Den Haag team. However, his stay at the club was cut short to a year. After his stints at ADC Den Haag, Feyernood became the team that wanted his signature. He signed for Feyernood thereafter.
Joshua Zirkzee’s impressive performances at Feyernood invited suitors to him. Luckily, Bayern Munich was one of the strongest teams that required his signature. After the paperwork had been set, he was eventually unveiled as a Bayern Munich youth player.
Zirkzee’s time at Bayern Munich was a stellar one. In his debut match, he scored a hat trick, calling the attention of unfamiliar spectators to his game. Well, that wasn’t just a one-time performance from Zirkzee. In the next game for Bayern Munich, he was again on the score sheet, as he scored the winning goal that sealed all three points for Bayern Munich.
The impressive display of goal-scoring instincts by Zirkzee caught the attention of the Bayern Munich senior team. In 2019, he made his debut for Bayern Munich in a UEFA Champions League game against Tottenham Hotspur. In the match, Zirkzee was not involved in any goal-scoring chances for Bayern Munich.
Once more, Joshua Zirkzee’s talent was on display in the next league game of Bayern Munich. Joshua Zirkzee made his debut against Freiburg. The match was tied at a 1-goal draw prior before the introduction of Joshua Zirkzee.
However, thanks to Joshua’s good positioning, he was able to score Bayern Munich’s second goal of the match. The match ended in a 3-goal in favor of Bayern Munich. Joshua Zirkzee slowly began making the headlines all around Europe thanks to his impressive rise at Bayern Munich.
As a result, Parma — an Italian team, signed him on a loan deal. Joshua Zirkzee’s time at Parma was nothing short of forgetful. He was able to make only four appearances during his spell at Parma. This was because he had reoccurring LCL injuries.
He slowly regained his lost form back. However, this time it was in another loan deal at Anderlecht — one of the top club teams in Belgium. Joshua Zirkzee was responsible for 35 goal contributions in 34 league starts.
Joshua Zirkzee’s time at Anderlecht soon came to an end in Belgium. His loan deal expired and he was then transferred to Bologna — a club team in the Italian Serie A division. He scored 11 goals and five assists, thus, helping his team to become one of the most eligible teams for the UEFA Champions League competition in the following season.
In 2024, Joshua Zirkzee was announced as a Manchester United player. He was handed a five-year contract and is expected to become instrumental in the upcoming Premier League season.
Joshua Zirkzee International Career
Joshua Zirkzee was a youth player for the Dutch National Team. However, in June 2024, he was called up by Ronald Koeman to replace injured Teun Koopmeiners at the UEFA Euro Tournament 2024. He made his debut in one of the UEFA Euro games against Turkey.
The match which ended in favor of Turkey saw him become just the third debutant to be featured in a European Competition since Cody Gakpo.
Joshua Zirkzee Style Of Play
Joshua Zirkzee combines both directness and pace in his game. He takes advantage of his small body frame to fit into little pockets of spaces left by defenders. This has been seen in his goals at Bologna and Anderlecht. In those teams, he is placed just between the two defenders to cause unbalances between them.
It has been noticed in Joshua Zirkzee’s game that he also emphasizes the buildup. Zirkzee, in some cases, would always be found in the box. However, his late arrivals are always worth it. He is either contributing to the buildup play or supporting the defense in creating the compactness needed to s sustain a lead.
According to Joshua Zirkzee, one of his role models is Ruud Van Nestelroy. He tries to copy his game style in training and implement it when working on the pitch. Luckily for him, Ruud Van Nistelroy has been included in Manchester United’s training staff, so this would be very instrumental in his performance for Manchester United.
Summary
Joshua Zirkzee is one of the brightest football prodigies to have come of the Netherlands in recent times. His records at his previous clubs are a testament to the above-stated statement.
However, his new role at Manchester United would be challenging. Would he be able to live up to the expectations? Time will tell.