Eyebrows were raised as Everton pushed late in the transfer window to sign Joshua Zirkzee on loan, only for Manchester United to reject the Merseyside club’s deadline-day offer.
Joshua Zirkzee will stay at Manchester United, despite attracting interest from Italian clubs and Everton.
Everton wanted to sign Zirkzee on loan for the season and were willing to pay a £10m fee, without being committed to a buy option. United considered the proposal before deciding to reject it.
Here are two reasons why United were right to reject Everton’s loan offer for Zirkzee.
Photo by Poppy Townson – MUFC/Manchester United via Getty Images
Although the majority of United fans want Zirkzee sold and replaced by a forward with an eye for goals, it was too late to let the Netherlands international go.
Everton didn’t make an adequate offer for United to take that gamble, so it wasn’t worth accepting only to be left short in the forward department if players like Benjamin Sesko or Matheus Cunha were to get injured at any point in the season.
Zirkzee may not be the forward Michael Carrick wants to be relying on to win football matches, but the fact he’s staying means the United head coach has another option to work with.
With United back in the Champions League and expected to drastically improve in the domestic cup competitions, Carrick needs options in attack. Otherwise, he won’t be able to rotate.
Unless Carrick uses the upcoming Carabao Cup tie against Brighton to give Benjamin Sesko a start to catch up after missing all of the pre-season friendlies, that fixture marks an opportunity for Zirkzee to get his first start of the 2026/27 campaign.
It’s going to be a long season, so Zirkzee needs to be ready when called upon regardless of being placed down the pecking order.
