Joshua Zirkzee has admitted that Manchester United players have all felt a major change under Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford after their woeful 2024-25 campaign.
The 24-year-old Manchester United striker is now playing catch-up to improve his fitness and put himself in the right conditioning after he didn’t play in pre-season.
Joshua Zirkzee was recovering from an injury setback during United’s pre-season tour of the United States and Europe across July and August this summer.
However, the Dutch forward returned to training last week ahead of United’s 1-0 Premier League defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford in the 2025-26 campaign.
Zirkzee was a substitute for United’s opening Premier League match against Arsenal on Sunday, but Ruben Amorim did not bring the Red Devils player off the bench.
Joshua Zirkzee reveals the visible change that Ruben Amorim has had on every single Man Utd player
Joshua Zirkzee struggled in his debut season at Old Trafford after Manchester United signed him from Serie A outfit Bologna in a deal worth £36.54m last summer.
The Netherlands international only netted seven times and registered three assists in 49 matches across all competitions in the 2024-25 campaign with United.
Speaking to United Review, Zirkzee admitted that there has been a huge change at the Red Devils and how the players now feel committed to “something” at the club.
Ruben Amorim’s influence can be seen in how Zirkzee explained that United players have been “team-bonding” and the “vibes” at Old Trafford have changed.
“The group, for me, is just, I don’t know, there’s such a good vibe. We’re all invested in something,” Zirkzee said, as per Manchester United’s official website.
“You can really tell that we really want to make sure that we’re not doing what we did last season.
“Also, outside the pitch, there’s some good vibes. We’re doing a lot of team bonding.
“I feel we’re much closer than we were last season, and hopefully we can translate all of that onto the pitch and share it with you, you know, the rest of the world who’s supporting United.”
Ruben Amorim’s first pre-season summer tour with Man Utd could be the key turning point for the Red Devils
United manager Amorim found himself in the trenches during the previous Premier League season after he was left to pick up the broken pieces from Erik ten Hag’s reign.
The 40-year-old Portuguese coach was left with a monumental task of trying to lead United to the end of the 2024-25 campaign after their complete collapse in form.
But the summer pre-season tour and transfer window have almost acted like a ‘soft reset’ moment for Amorim and an opportunity to build on last season’s problems.
Despite United’s first Premier League match of the season ending in defeat, there were major positives for United fans to take away from the result against Arsenal.
Amorim’s reign might have started off rocky after his arrival from Sporting CP in 2024, but Zirkzee’s point does resonate with the different vibe around United right now.
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