Rene Meulensteen has waxed lyrical about one Manchester United star and expects the “agile” Red Devils player to start for Erik ten Hag against Brighton on Saturday.
Manchester United kicked off their 2024-25 Premier League campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Marco Silva’s Fulham side at Old Trafford last week.
Joshua Zirkzee came off the bench in the second half and the United summer signing scored the crucial winner for the Red Devils in the 87th minute.
Erik ten Hag’s men snatched all three points and the United boss has now turned his attention to his side’s first away match of the Premier League season.
United will travel to the Amex for a tricky test against Brighton, with kick-off for the Premier League match slated for 8pm UK time.
Meulensteen raves about Man Utd star
Erik ten Hag deployed Bruno Fernandes in a false nine type of role for the match against Fulham, with Joshua Zirkzee settling for his place on the bench.
The 54-year-old United manager was dealt a major blow in the summer after Rasmus Hojlund picked up an injury in the 2-1 pre-season defeat against Arsenal.
Rasmus Hojlund was forced off the pitch in the first half against the Gunners in the United States, despite opening the scoring for United in the friendly match.
The 21-year-old Denmark striker is expected to be out of action for six weeks and is likely to return for United after the September international break.
Zirkzee was on the bench for United’s Community Shield clash at Wembley earlier month, but he was an unused substitute in the defeat to Manchester City.
Rene Meulensteen, who was a first-team coach under Sir Alex Ferguson, has spoken highly of Zirkzee’s qualities and called the Dutch forward a “real” No 9.
“The difference with Zirkzee is he is far more of a real striker, a real No 9,’ he told the Metro.
“He still has to come to terms with playing for United, playing in the Premier League week in, week out, those are different demands.
“He’s a big boy, but for a big boy, he’s agile, he’s good dropping deep and linking play which he did for the goal but he’s also good with forward runs. He’s got a presence in the box.”
Meulensteen on Zirkzee and Brighton
Zirkzee arrived at Old Trafford this summer after United signed the Netherlands striker from Serie A side Bologna in a deal worth £36.54m.
United’s fee for the 23-year-old Dutch forward was more than the £33.6m release clause in Zirkzee’s former Bologna contract.
The Red Devils agreed to a high transfer fee to pay the cost over a three-year period and to fall in line with the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
Meulensteen has insisted that he would prefer Ten Hag to hand Zirkzee his first United start against Brighton instead of playing him as a “makeshift” No 9.
“I would rather see him starting than playing a makeshift No 9 as we’ve seen with Bruno Fernandes, Mason Mount or Marcus Rashford,” he continued.
“So I wouldn’t be surprised if he came into the side this weekend and equipped himself really well.”
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
