Manchester United have been urged to sell Joshua Zirkzee this summer after his lacklustre performance against Sunderland.<\/p>\n
Zirkzee has found minutes hard to come back by under Michael Carrick, but was handed a rare start with Benjamin Sesko injured and Bryan Mbeumo lacking form.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the Dutchman didn’t profit from the chance, delivering a largely anonymous display before being withdrawn after 65 minutes.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old has been widely linked with an exit from Old Trafford this summer, and former Sunderland player Micky Gray believes the Dutchman simply is \u2018not a Man United player\u2019.<\/p>\n
Speaking on talkSPORT<\/a>, Gray said: \u2018For the lifetime of me I don\u2019t know the way Bryan Mbeumo has not come on at half time for Joshua Zirkzee.<\/p>\n \u2018He\u2019s just not a Man United player. I\u2019m sorry to say it, but every little thing bounces off him as a striker.<\/p>\n \u2018He\u2019s an enormous guy but for someone who\u2019s so big and tall and robust as he’s, he\u2019s just so weak.<\/p>\n \u2018And I can\u2019t imagine he\u2019s actually still playing for Manchester United. I believe he\u2019s definitely certainly one of the players that you simply\u2019re attempting to move on in the summertime.\u2019<\/p>\n Paul Merson also believes a summer exit for Zirkzee is probably going, but said the style of United\u2019s 0-0 draw with Sunderland shows how much depth the Red Devils must add to their squad over the summer transfer window.<\/p>\n \u2018It wasn\u2019t result,\u2019 he told Sky Sports. \u2018It wasn\u2019t performance. What it was, was worrying his next season.<\/p>\n \u2018This season, I said before, they’re only playing once per week. Now, swiftly, you realize, next season, they\u2019re going to be in Champions League football and their squad looks very shallow. <\/p>\n \u2018Mason Mount is playing centre midfield today with Mainoo. Zirkzee up front, sorry, but he\u2019s not going to do it for Man United, in my view. So he\u2019ll probably be moved on. So it just shows you where they’re.<\/p>\n \u2018So it\u2019d be a worry for them. They need to speculate in some players. Otherwise, they\u2019ll be fighting for top 4 next season.\u2019<\/p>\n Merson continued: \u2018They\u2019ve got to purchase a centre midfield player, top, top draw central midfield player. The one which involves mind is [Elliot] Anderson, but Anderson\u2019s still young.<\/p>\n \u2018They haven\u2019t got a centre forward. I mean, Sesko plays up front, but they still need one other one because Zirkzee, for me, just hasn\u2019t got it, in my view. I believe he\u2019s a pleasant player, but I just don\u2019t think that is the club for him. <\/p>\n \u2018But they should sort something out because I believe next season, watching that today, and I don\u2019t need to take anything away from Sunderland because I believed Sunderland were really, really good. <\/p>\n \u2018But they may have to speculate and I don\u2019t know the way it\u2019ll work with a good play rule, how much they will invest, but they need some players.\u2019<\/p>\n For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Follow Metro Sport for the newest news on ![\"Sunderland](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275313067.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=594\")
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