Erik ten Hag ‘did not want’ signing that turned up a stone overweight at Man Utd – Man Utd

Erik ten Hag was left furious with one summer recruit who turned up ‘overweight’ as well as the fact the Dutchman was against the signing in the first place.

United confirmed the sacking of Erik ten Hag last week following the club’s worst-ever start to a Premier League season for the second consecutive year.

United sat 14th in the Premier League at the time of the Dutchman’s sacking, and have since confirmed the appointment of Ruben Amorim from Sporting CP.

Amorim will join the club ahead of their clash with Ipswich, with current interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy taking charge for the club’s next two fixtures against POAK and Leicester.

Whilst Ten Hag had more than enough time to turn his Old Trafford fortunes around, it has been reported that he felt let down by one summer signing who he didn’t even want.

According to The Sun, United striker Joshua Zirkzee arrived at Old Trafford ‘overweight’ and failed to shift the excess weight ahead of the new season.

The report also states that his arrival from Bologna was instigated by Ineos’ new management team as they believed it was good value for money despite Ten Hag’s reservations.

Zirkzee did make a bright start to life in England, as he came off the bench to score in United’s 1-0 win over Fulham on the opening day.

Since then the 23-year-old has failed to find the target in his 15 appearances since his debut, with many fans concerned about the forward’s performance.

Joshua Zirkzee- Getty

With reports of Zirkzee being overweight he didn’t exactly help his cause on Sunday after he was played in on goal but lacked the pace to get away from Wesley Fofana.

Zirkzee has never had the greatest goal-scoring reputation throughout the early stages of his career despite looking sharp in front of goal for Bayern Munich.

The Dutch international scored 14 goals in 58 appearances over two seasons at Bologna before making the move to the Premier League.