Joshua Zirkzee

Joshua Orobosa Zirkzee (born 22 May 2001) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Manchester United and the Netherlands national team.

Early years
Born in Schiedam to a Nigerian mother and a Dutch father, Zirkzee began his footballing career as a five-year-old with VV Hekelingen after the family had moved to Spijkenisse. After impressing early on, he moved to the youth department of Spartaan '20 in 2010, where he played alongside his cousin, Nelson Amadin. He then left for ADO Den Haag in 2013, before ending up in the Feyenoord youth academy in 2016. One year later, Zirkzee left the Feyenoord academy in his native Netherlands to join the youth setup of Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich
On 1 March 2019, Zirkzee scored a hat-trick in his debut for Bayern Munich II. Just a day later, he scored the winning goal for the under-19 side as they defeated 1. FC Nürnberg 2–1. Zirkzee made his professional debut in the 3. Liga for Bayern Munich II on 20 July 2019, coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute for Oliver Batista Meier in the away match against Würzburger Kickers.

On 11 December 2019, Zirkzee made his debut for the senior team against Tottenham Hotspur in the final group stage match of the Champions League. He subsequently made his Bundesliga debut on 18 December, coming on as a substitute in the 90th minute in a match against Freiburg tied at 1–1; he scored the winner almost immediately after entering the game. Shortly after, Serge Gnabry added another stoppage-time goal to secure a 3–1 victory. Two days later, he again came off the bench in the final minutes of the game and scored the winning goal as Bayern defeated Wolfsburg. On 13 June 2020, Zirkzee scored the opening goal in Bayern Munich's 2–1 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach. He finished off his debut season with a continental treble.

Loan to Parma
On 31 January 2021, Zirkzee moved to Italian side Parma on a loan deal. The deal included an option to buy. On 2 April 2021, he suffered an LCL injury, and his loan was limited to four appearances, all as a substitute.

Loan to Anderlecht
On 3 August 2021, Anderlecht announced the signing of Zirkzee on a season-long loan from Bayern Munich. He finished the 2021–22 season as the club's top scorer with 16 goals, in addition to providing nine assists in 34 league starts.

Bologna
On 30 August 2022, Zirkzee was transferred to Serie A club Bologna on a permanent deal. Later that year, on 16 October, he scored his first goal at the club, by netting the opener in a 3–2 defeat against Napoli. In his second season under coach Thiago Motta, he managed to score eight goals in 16 games in the first half of the 2023–24 campaign, attracting transfer interest from several top European clubs with his former club Bayern Munich still having a 40% cut of any possible transfer fee. He ultimately finished the season as Bologna's top scorer, netting 11 goals and providing five assists, helping his club secure a berth in the Champions League group stage.

Manchester United
On 14 July 2024, Premier League club Manchester United announced that they had signed Zirkzee on a five-year contract.

International career
Born in the Netherlands to a Dutch father and a Nigerian mother, Zirkzee is a youth international for the Netherlands.

On 12 June 2024, Zirkzee was added to the Netherlands senior team's squad for the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament in Germany. Zirkzee had not initially been chosen, but was called up by head coach Ronald Koeman following injuries to Dutch midfielders Frenkie de Jong and Teun Koopmeiners. On 6 July, he earned his first international cap during a 2–1 victory over Turkey in the quarter-finals, becoming the third player to debut for the Netherlands during a European competition following Martien Vreijsen (Euro 1980) and Cody Gakpo (2020).

Honours
Bayern Munich II
 * Regionalliga Bayern: 2018–19
 * Premier League International Cup: 2018–19

Bayern Munich
 * Bundesliga: 2019–20
 * DFB-Pokal: 2019–20
 * DFL-Supercup: 2020, 2022
 * UEFA Champions League: 2019–20
 * UEFA Super Cup: 2020

Individual
 * Serie A Best Young Player: 2023–24