Joshua Zirkzee had to wait longer than he might have liked to make his Manchester United debut, having been kept on the bench during the Community Shield last weekend.
But his United career got off to the perfect start when he scored the winning goal on the opening night of the 2024/25 Premier League season, securing a narrow 1-0 victory for Erik ten Hag's side against Fulham.
The Dutch forward signed from Serie A side Bologna for £42 million ($54m) in July and has been looking forward to this moment ever since.
He came on at a crucial time as United were headed for a scoreless draw and lacked that clinical edge in the final third against Marco Silva's side. He had just one touch in their box but that was all he needed to write his name in the history books as he joined an elite list of players to score on their debut in front of the Stretford End.
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At first glance, the goal seemed like a toe-poke but replays showed it to be a classic poacher's finish—one that might have reminded United fans of similar strikes from over 20 years ago by one of Ten Hag's new assistants, Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Zirkzee discussed the impact the former United striker is already having on the team: "Yeah, it’s a privilege to have someone like that. As a striker, it’s not every day you have someone that you grew up watching.
"It’s not just him, but obviously it’s an extra privilege," he added.
Ladies and gentlemen: Joshua Zirkzee.#MUFC || #MUNFUL pic.twitter.com/0Wmvj3D9CW
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 16, 2024
The 23-year-old was then asked whether that sort of clinical instinct comes to him naturally.
"I’m not going to talk about myself like that but it was a good touch today, so hopefully more of that. It’s something you really have to work for."
In his spare time, Zirkzee sounds like every other young man in the world. He enjoys walking his dog, watching TV shows and playing PlayStation.
But it just so happens to be that he plays for the biggest club in the world.
"Why Manchester United [laughs]? For some people, it might be crazy, but for me, I mean this is the biggest club in the world, so it wasn’t a difficult choice to make to be honest."
He's one of four summer signings United have made this summer. The two most recent arrivals are Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt, both of whom are friends of Zirkzee from their time together at Bayern Munich.
"I mean they’re two great players and we’ll see in the future what they can bring. I’m sure they’ll do a lot of great things here. I think Mazaroui had a great game today as well and I think De Ligt came in with a lot of good energy as well, so yeah, it’s good to have familiar faces around, but everybody in the team has been very kind and it’s top being part of this group.
"He [Mazaroui] arrived this week and it’s not easy to obviously come into a team and directly play the way he did. I think it all looked natural and that was the most special part of his game today. But yeah, that’s just the player he is, he’s there to do his job and perform the best way he can and I think he did great today… not just because he’s my friend."
