Joshua Orobosa Zirkzee (born 22 May 2001) is a Dutch professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for club

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and the Netherlands national team.

Club career

Early years

Born in

Schiedam Schiedam () is a large town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of the city Rotterdam, east of the town Vlaardingen and south of the city Delft. In the south, Schi ...

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 Spijkenisse () is a large town in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. Following an administrative reform in 2015, it is part of the List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Nissewaard, and ha ...

. 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 Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

in 2013, before ending up in the

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

youth academy in 2016. One year later, Zirkzee left the

academy in his native Netherlands to join the youth setup of

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

Bayern Munich

On 1 March 2019, Zirkzee scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in his debut for

Bayern Munich II FC Bayern Munich II (''FC Bayern Munich Amateure'' until 2005) are the German reserve football teams, reserve team of Football in Germany, German association football club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich, currently playing in the Regionalliga B ...

. 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 The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

for Bayern Munich II on 20 July 2019, coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute for

Oliver Batista Meier Oliver Batista Meier (born 16 February 2001) is a German professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Preußen Münster. Club career Batista Meier made his professional debut for Bayern Munich II in the 3. Liga on 20 July 2019, sta ...

in the away match against

Würzburger Kickers Bukettraube (''/bu-ket-trau-be/''), also called Bouquet Blanc, Bouquettraube, Sylvaner Musqué or Bukettrebe, is a variety of white grape of German origin. Sebastian Englerth is supposed to have created it in Randersacker in the 19th century, ...

. On 11 December 2019, Zirkzee made his debut for the senior team against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in the final group stage match of the Champions League. He subsequently made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut on 18 December, coming on as a substitute in the 90th minute in a match against

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

tied at 1–1; he scored the winner almost immediately after entering the game. Shortly after,

Serge Gnabry Serge David Gnabry (; born 14 July 1995) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for the club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. Gnabry started his career in England with Arsenal in the Premier League, making his ...

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 Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...

. On 13 June 2020, Zirkzee scored the opening goal in Bayern Munich's 2–1 win against

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

. He finished off his debut season with a

continental treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A continental treble involves winning the club's top-level domestic league competition, main domestic cup competition, and main continental tro ...

Loan to Parma

On 31 January 2021, Zirkzee moved to Italian club

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

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 Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

announced the signing of Zirkzee on a season-long loan from

. 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 transferred to

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

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 Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

. In his second season under coach

Thiago Motta Thiago Motta (; ; born 28 August 1982) is a professional Association football, football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of club Juventus FC, Juventus. A Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder, Mott ...

, 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

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 four assists, helping his club secure a berth in the Champions League group stage.

Manchester United

On 14 July 2024, Premier League club

announced the signing of Zirkzee on a five-year contract for a fee of £36.5m. He made his debut as a substitute in the season's opening fixture against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

on 16 August, where he scored the match's only goal. He made his first start for United in a 3–0 defeat to

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

on 1 September. On 1 December, he scored a brace to help Manchester United secure a 4–0 victory over Everton. On 30 December, Zirkzee was booed by the Old Trafford crowd as he was substituted off the pitch in the 33rd minute of a 2–0 defeat to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. On 12 January 2025, Zirkzee scored the winning penalty against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

as a 10-man Manchester United won the shootout 5–3 following a 1–1 draw after extra time. On 2 March 2025, Zirkzee missed the deciding penalty against

in the fifth round of the

as the holders of the competition were knocked out after losing the shootout 3–4 following a 1–1 draw after extra time. In the following match on 6 March, he scored his first goal in Europe, the opener in the first leg of United's Europa League round of 16 tie away to

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, which finished a 1–1 draw. On 13 April 2025, in a match against

, Zirkzee suffered a hamstring injury while dribbling. In a subsequent press conference, head coach

Ruben Amorim Ruben Filipe Marques Amorim (; born 27 January 1985) is a Portuguese Professional association football, professional football Manager (association football), manager, a former player and the current manager of Premier League club Manchester Unit ...

confirmed that the injury ruled Zirkzee out for the rest of the 2024–25 season. However, Zirkzee made an unexpected return, as Amorim confirmed that Zirkzee would be a member of United's team for the Europa League against

International career

Born in the Netherlands to a Dutch father and a Nigerian mother, Zirkzee was a youth international for the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. On 12 June 2024, Zirkzee was added to the Netherlands senior team's

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

tournament in Germany. Zirkzee had not initially been chosen, but was called up by head coach

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team. Koeman scor ...

following injuries to Dutch midfielders

Frenkie de Jong Frenkie de Jong (; born 12 May 1997) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays primarily as a midfielder for club Barcelona and the Netherlands national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation and as one ...

and

Teun Koopmeiners Teun Koopmeiners (; born 28 February 1998) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Juventus FC, Juventus and the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team. Having represented the Netherlands at ...

. On 6 July, he earned his first international cap during a 2–1 victory over

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in the quarter-finals, becoming the third player to debut for the Netherlands during a European competition following

Martien Vreijsen Martien Vreijsen (; born 15 November 1955) is a Dutch former footballer who played as a striker. He has earned one cap for the Netherlands national football team in 1980, and participated in the Euro 1980 The 1980 UEFA European Football Ch ...

(

Euro 1980 The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams ...

) and

Cody Gakpo Cody Mathès Gakpo (; born 7 May 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a left winger or forward for club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. A PSV academy graduate, Gakpo made his first-team debut in February 2018 ...

(

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Style of play

Zirkzee is a versatile

. His height and strength enable him to be dominant in the air as well as play with his back to goal and hold up the ball. Despite his tall frame, he has excellent technique and dribbling abilities which also allow him to drop deeper into a more traditional

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

position.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Netherlands score listed first, score column indicates score after each Zirkzee goal.''

Honours

Bayern Munich II *

Regionalliga Bayern The Regionalliga Bayern () is the highest association football league in the state of Bavaria () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of five Regionalligas in German football, the fourth tier of the German football league system, b ...

: 2018–19 Bayern Munich *

: 2019–20 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 2019–20 *

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

: 2020, 2022 *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

: 2019–20 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

Manchester United *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

runner-up: 2024–25 Individual * Serie A Best Under-23: 2023–24 *

Serie A Team of the Year The AIC Serie A Team of the Year (in Italian: ''Squadra dell’anno AIC'') is an annual award given to a set of eleven footballers in the top tier of Football in Italy, Italian football, the Serie A, who are considered to have performed the best d ...

: 2023–24

References

External links

Profile
at the Manchester United F.C. website
Profile
at the Royal Dutch Football Association website (in Dutch) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zirkzee, Joshua 2001 births Living people Dutch people of Nigerian descent Footballers from Schiedam Dutch men's footballers Men's association football forwards FC Bayern Munich II players FC Bayern Munich footballers Parma Calcio 1913 players R.S.C. Anderlecht players Bologna FC 1909 players Manchester United F.C. players Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Regionalliga players Serie A players Belgian Pro League players Premier League players UEFA Champions League–winning players UEFA Euro 2024 players Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers Netherlands men's international footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England 21st-century Dutch sportsmen