Erik ten Hag has hinted that Joshua Zirkzee could make his Manchester United debut against Fulham tomorrow night.
Zirkzee is yet to feature for United, missing all five pre-season games and watching the Community Shield final from the bench.
But Ten Hag has suggested the only way he will increase his match fitness is by… playing competitive matches.
“I think he’s close. We didn’t have a pre-season with him, we need games with him,” Ten Hag explained.
“In the last months, he had an injury at Bologna. In the end, he made the selection for The Netherlands. That meant he was out of our first games in pre-season, so he had no games. That’s his problem in this moment.
“It’s his third week in training. You see him stepping up; his fitness levels are improving, but he needs more minutes. If you can’t do that in friendlies, it has to come in the league.
“I think we have two young strikers who have the potential to grow into top-class strikers in Højlund and Zirkzee…”
