When Marko Arnautovic was ruled out for a number of weeks through injury recently, this felt like the opportunity Bologna team-mate Joshua Zirkzee had been waiting for.
The former Bayern Munich forward had struggled for game time in his new Italian home; veteran Arnautovic firmly established as Thiago Motta’s number one centre-forward. So, when the Austria international picked up a sprain which would keep him on the sidelines for at least a month, Zirkzee found himself confronted by what felt like, if not a ‘make or break moment’, then certainly a potential turning point in his Bologna career.
A chance to remind everyone why the Dutchman was once so highly-regarded at Bayern. Why Everton, Newcastle United, West Ham, Fulham and more wanted Zirkzee before his £7.5 million switch to the Rossoblu.
Why some have tipped the one-time Feyenoord starlet to reach the very summit of world football.
“Zirkzee is better than (Erling) Haaland at everything,” Voetbal International reporter Suleyman Ozturk wrote in the spring.
“Now you may be dismayed because of this statement. But I will frame it. (Zirkzee) has vision, technique, strength, charisma, flair, footballing ability. He is therefore better than Haaland in almost everything.
“Imagine if Zirkzee had the energy and focus of Haaland. Then he would be the best striker in the world.”
Former Everton target Joshua Zirkzee struggling in Serie A
Flash forward four months and Haaland has already shattered the 30-goal barrier at Manchester City. 33 in 33 games across all competitions. Zirkzee, however, is still waiting for goal number two in Bologna colours; Ozturk’s comments ageing like milk left out in the Emilia-Romagna sun.
He failed to find the net in any of his three Serie A outings during Arnautovic’s absence. And, after picking up an injury of his own, Zirkzee seems to have already missed his chance – literally and figuratively – to belatedly establish himself under much-admired head coach Motta.
“I saw Joshua play better in the second half,” Motta said following the recent 2-1 win at Fiorentina. “He won difficult tackles and duels. We need him on second balls too. If he also scores at the end of the game, he finishes his match fantastically.
“I say that this is the minimum that Joshua has to give. We’re always waiting for something more. He has enormous potential and he knows it. He has to work.”
There is only so far ‘potential’ can take you. Zirkzee celebrates his 22nd birthday in May. And, while he still has plenty of time on his side, it is difficult to dispel the nagging feeling that the player who caught the eye with a series of exhilarating cameos at Bayern Munich is going nowhere fast.
Zirkzee, interestingly, was a target for Everton both in 2018 and 2021.
“I could have gone to Everton,” he explains when asked why he chose to leave Feyenoord for Bayern Munich instead five years ago. “(Everton) pushed hard. But breaking through in England is difficult,”
Three years after that, the presence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin as Everton’s number one striker saw Zirkzee embark upon a forgettable loan spell at Parma instead.
Now, even as The Toffees struggle for goals at the wrong end of the table, Zirkzee’s latest barren run will have few at Goodison rueing their failure to sign him on either occasion.
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