Former England boss Fabio Capello believes one Manchester United summer signing is struggling with the pace and intensity of the Premier League.
United were busy in the summer and signed five new players with Leny Yoro, Manual Ugarte, Joshua Zirkzee, Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt all making the switch to Old Trafford.
Zirkzee was an important signing for the Red Devils as they needed another striker to complement Rasmus Hojlund and ease the goalscoring burden on the Denmark international.
Zirkzee struggling to adapt to the Premier League
The Dutchman, who cost United in the region of £36.5m had the dream start to his career at Old Trafford as he scored the winner on his debut against Fulham.
However, the 23-year-old failed to find the net in the defeats against Brighton and Liverpool, although he did get his first goal for the Netherlands during the international break.
Zirkzee will be hoping to add to his goal tally as United travel to Southampton this weekend, but Capello believes the striker is struggling to adapt to the pace and intensity of the Premier League.
“I saw Zirkzee who is having great difficulty because he thinks he can still play at the Italian pace,” he told Italian outlet Corriere della Sera as quoted by Metro.
It’s still early days for Zirkzee and it’s to be expected after just three games that he might still be struggling with the pace and intensity given the difference between football in England and Italy.
The Dutch international showed plenty of promise at Bologna last season, scoring 11 Serie A goals as they qualified for the Champions League.
However, a move to United is a huge step up in every aspect and Zirkzee will be under pressure to perform and help get the Red Devils back in the Champions League.