Ruud Gullit makes concerning Man Utd statement as summer transfer mistake made
Joshua Zirkzee was one of several Manchester United recruits in the summer but he's not scored since his debut as Ruud Gullit underlines the dangers of playing for the Premier League side
by Samuel Meade · The MirrorRuud Gullit insists Joshua Zirkzee is a good player - but at Manchester United it is "hard to do well".
The Dutchman made the move to Old Trafford in the summer off the back of an impressive year in Serie A with Bologna. It led to a host of top European outfits eyeing his signature but eventually it was the Manchester outfit who won the race.
Zirkzee came off the bench to score a late winner on his debut, downing Fulham, but since then has been unable to find the net. United too are yet to find a position which will allow the versatile forward to thrive, perhaps pointing to their own playing and stylistic problems.
Gullit would rather have seen his compatriot remain in Italy and join AC Milan, but he opted for a switch to the Premier League giants. The red half of Manchester has proved to be a graveyard for elite players and Gullit fears Zirzkee may fall foul of that.
He told Gazzetta dello Sport : “Zirkzee would have done better to say yes to Milan instead of moving to Manchester United in England. Now instead he is at a club that has so many problems. He’s good, no doubt about that, but at United, it’s hard to do well."
Over the years a host of big names players, many whom have thrived elsewhere, have moved to Old Trafford and flopped. Going back a decade the likes of Angel di Maria were signed for big money, but failed to deliver and was sold on after just 12 months.
More recently players like Jadon Sancho and Alexis Sanchez have joined the Manchester outfit with big expectations, only to struggle. The culture of the club has been criticised with United a million miles from the levels they enjoyed during the Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Last year Gary Neville bemoaned the fact that top players head to Old Trafford - only to continuously fail. "There are very few players that excel at Manchester United in this last ten years," he said. "They were all great players when they came to the club, they were all wanted by other clubs.
"They won these players off of other clubs and then they end up coming to Manchester United and they end up not succeeding and not performing to their levels, why is that? It's because it's not culturally correct to accept players in the way that it should do and we (United) need to get that right."
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