Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports
Topics: Manchester United, Joshua Zirkzee, Premier League, Fan Reactions
Josh Lawless
Topics: Manchester United, Joshua Zirkzee, Premier League, Fan Reactions
Manchester United fans were left in disbelief after only just realising how striker Joshua Zirkzee sounds.
Zirkzee signed for United from Bologna in the summer, with the Red Devils paying £36.5 million and handing him a five-year contract.
The Netherlands international has struggled for large spells in his first season in England and was brutally substituted after just 32 minutes in a defeat to Newcastle in December.
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He has enjoyed better moments in recent times though, including the winning penalty in a FA Cup fourth round shoot-out victory over Arsenal and the equaliser in the fifth round triumph against Leicester City.
But while United fans have seen Zirkzee in action on 36 occasions this season, plenty were stunned when they heard the former Bayern Munich and Bologna man talk.
A video of the 23-year-old taking part in entertaining interviews with compatriot Matthijs De Ligt went viral online but the main takeaway was Zirkzee's English hybrid voice - which followed up reaction to the accent of Aston Villa's Amadou Onana and threw many off.
One fan on X wrote: "Did not expect Zirkzee to sound like that."
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A second said: "Did not expect Zirkzee to sound like that."
A third added: "If he fails at football, he could make a good career as a voice over artist."
Another joked: "Sounds like a hollyoaks actor."
A fifth commented: "I’m going to need to see that Dutch passport again."
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A final user stated: "His accent sounds wildly close to a British one. Wow. De Ligt's accent sounds more Dutch."
Zirkzee and De Ligt hail from the same country but it is the former who sounds like he grew up in England.
Zirkzee has been heavily linked with an early departure from Old Trafford, with Juventus one of the mooted admirers given Thiago Motta's relationship with the player from their time at Bologna.
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And according to a new report from Tuttosport in Italy, Zirkzee could potentially be involved in a summer swap deal which would see Douglas Luiz head to United.
Luiz left Aston Villa for Juve in the summer but hasn't got going and the Brazilian, courted by United at the end of the January window, could be used as a makeweight.