Capello names aspect of English football that Joshua Zirkzee struggles with

Former England manager Fabio Capello believes one of the players who arrived at Manchester United this summer is struggling with the pace and intensity of the Premier League.

United were busy in the summer, signing five new players: Leny Yoro, Manual Ugarte, Joshua Zirkzee, Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt all made the move to Old Trafford.

Zirkzee was an important acquisition for the Red Devils. They needed an extra striker to complement Rasmus Hojlund and to make the Danish international score less.

Zirkzee struggles to adapt to the Premier League

The Dutchman, who cost United £36.5million, enjoyed a dream start to his career at Old Trafford when he scored the winning goal on his debut against Fulham.

The 23-year-old player failed to score in the defeats against Brighton and Liverpool, although he did score his first goal for the Netherlands during the international period.

Zirkzee will be hoping to add to his goalscoring tally when 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 a very hard time because he thinks he can still play at the Italian pace,” he told Italian media Corriere della Sera, quoted by Metro.

It’s still early days for Zirkzee and it’s expected that after just three games he will still struggle with the pace and intensity, given the difference between football in England and Italy.

More stories / Latest news

The Dutch international showed great talent at Bologna last season, scoring 11 Serie A goals, which helped the club qualify for the Champions League.

However, a move to United is a big step forward in every way and Zirkzee will be under pressure to perform and help the Red Devils back into the Champions League.