Manchester United were busy over the summer and Dan Ashworth has now moved to defend one of the club’s summer signings.
The summer transfer window is over and Manchester United fans are reflecting on the first summer transfer window with Ineos at the helm.
After deciding to keep hold of boss Erik ten Hag, United simply had to back the Dutchman and invest in his playing squad.
Five first-team additions have arrived with Joshua Zirkzee the first to arrive from Bologna.
Wonderkid Leny Yoro joined from Lille before Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui signed from Bayern Munich together.
Manuel Ugarte was the last man in, finally completing his move from Paris Saint-Germain on transfer deadline day.
Dan Ashworth defends Joshua Zirkzee deal
United bolstered areas across the pitch and continued to back Erik ten Hag with the signings he knows and trusts.
Ten Hag had already reunited with his former Ajax trio Andre Onana, Lisandro Martinez and Antony at Old Trafford.
De Ligt and Mazraoui add to that list now with five of Ten Hag’s former Ajax players now at the club.
Striker Joshua Zirkzee finds himself being lumped into the same category simply because he is Dutch.
The forward has never played under Ten Hag but the United boss will certainly have been well aware of the striker; one of the top Dutch talents around.
United’s sporting director Dan Ashworth has now commented on that perception around Zirkzee and defended the move.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Ashworth noted that Ten Hag wanting to sign players he already knows is just ‘natural’.
Ashworth highlighted that United have signed players that Ten Hag doesn’t know at all in Yoro and Ugarte.
Ashworth also made sure to remind everybody that Zirkzee belongs in that category too.
The United chief noted that Ten Hag and Zirkzee have never worked together and people can’t just club them together because they are both Dutch.
Ashworth finished by adding that Ineos already wanted De Ligt and Mazraoui anyway, pointing to a ‘joined-up’ approach at United rather than overwhelming power from Ten Hag on potential incomings.
“It’s natural to work with somebody you’ve worked with previously,” said Ashworth. “We’ve signed players who haven’t worked with Erik previously, Yoro and Ugarte. He’d never worked with Zirkzee and you can’t say just because he’s Dutch that he knows him!
“He’s worked with Matthijs and Nous previously, but they were both on our radar and it’s a joined-up decision on who comes in and out of this football club,” he added.
Zirkzee needs time at Manchester United
Zirkzee made a dream start to his Premier League career, coming off the bench to score the winner in the 1-0 victory over Fulham.
The trip to Brighton and Hove Albion was a little trickier.
Zirkzee still showed sharp link-up play but ended up accidentally costing United a goal.
Alejandro Garnacho’s goal-bound shot hit an offside Zirkzee on the line, causing VAR to disallow the goal.
Zirkzee started a Premier League game for the first time on Sunday but this was his toughest outing yet.
The Dutchman missed two big chances to score and has been somewhat criticised by Owen Hargreaves for not having a clinical edge.
Zirkzee needs time to adjust at United and to the Premier League having arrived from Serie A.
There is so much talent in Zirkzee’s game and he certainly isn’t at Old Trafford just because he is Dutch.
We have seen promising signs from Zirkzee this season and one tough outing against Liverpool shouldn’t be cause for too much panic.
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