With only one goal from three Premier League matches, and links with Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee intensifying, Nuno Espirito Santo will not have taken long to work out where West Ham’s issues lie.
Although, in truth, it would be quicker to highlight the areas where the Hammers do not need reinforcements right now.
Nuno continues to bench £18 million goalkeeper Mads Hermansen. The full-backs and centre-halves have been largely dreadful with the exception of El Hadji Malick Diouf. Nuno is reportedly desperate for midfield additions possessing pace and intensity, despite predecessor Graham Potter spending over £50 million on Mateus Fernandes and Soungoutou Magassa.
Only Nottingham Forest and Wolves, meanwhile, have scored fewer goals than West Ham United’s six. That all three of those clubs are currently encamped in the relegation zone is no coincidence.
An away draw at Everton is the closest Nuno has got to a ‘new manager bounce’ since taking charge. Jarrod Bowen’s rifled finish at the Hill Dickinson Stadium is also the only time they have found the net on his watch. With a pair of 2-0 defeats coming against Arsenal and Brentford, the Nuno era looks like being something of a slow-burner, presuming it ever catches fire.
In contrast, the aforementioned Joshua Zirkzee could hardly have made a more sprightly start to life at Manchester United. The £35 million signing from Bologna needed only 26 minutes and 12 touches to open his Premier League account against Fulham back in August 2024.
But please Josh, do not introduce us to a vibe you can’t maintain.
Across his next 34 appearances in England’s top flight, Zirkzee has scored only twice more. Suggestions that he could be the solution to West Ham’s own attacking issues, then, are not supported by the stats. Or, indeed, the eye test.
Joshua Zirkzee reacts after Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - UEFA Europa League Final 2025
Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
MORE WEST HAM STORIES
West Ham should heed Joshua Zirkzee’s Manchester United struggles
The former Bayern Munich kid is not without talent, of course. He was included in the Serie A Team of the Year in 2024, as well as being named the best Under-23 player in Italy.
A player of Zirkzee’s profile would free up Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville to make the best of their searing pace too, as demonstrated by Manchester United’s 4-0 thrashing of Everton back in December of last year.
In Zirkzee’s best performance for the club, and the game in which he scored two-thirds of his Premier League goals, his occasionally exceptional hold-up play and those trademark flicked passes around the corner helped Marcus Rashford and Amad Diallo run riot.
But there are many, Ruben Amorim and Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman seemingly included, who feel that Zirkzee’s weaknesses outweigh his strengths.
Koeman has omitted Zirkzee from his Dutch squad of late. Amorim, meanwhile, has handed him only 74 minutes of league action this season.
According to Manchester World, Amorim has come to the conclusion that Zirkzee ‘lacks the strength to lead the line’ in his lone-striker system. Replacement Benjamin Sesko is not only far more of a goal threat. He is quicker, stronger, and just as effective with his back to goal.
“In forward areas especially, I just don’t think the quality is there,” Red Devils icon Paul Scholes said in 2024. “Zirkzee, what is he? Is he a number nine or a number ten?
“Is he going to get you 20 goals? I don’t think so.”
Zirkzee is ‘out of his depth’ in the Premier League
Even in Italy, where he played the best football of his career, Zirkzee’s finishing was often the thing which let him down. In 88 league matches for United and Bologna, he has found the net only 16 times. Countless Red Devils chances have come and gone, meanwhile, with Zirkzee’s pea-roller finishes easily stopped by opposition defenders or goalkeepers.
Zirkzee’s meek ball-striking and an absence of any real pace or power may be overcome in the slower Serie A. But amongst the hustle and bustle of the Premier League, well, the similarities with a certain Niclas Fullkrug are obvious.
“He’s just out of his depth,” ESPN reporter Mark Ogden said a few months ago. “He’s just not good enough. He doesn’t look fit, he’s not quick enough. He doesn’t score enough goals. He’s just not got it.
“[Because Ruben Amorim] likes his forwards to be dynamic, that doesn’t bode well for Joshua Zirkzee.”
According to Italian reporter Mateo Moretto, speaking on Fabrizio Romano’s podcast last week, West Ham are ‘definitely’ in the mix for Zirkzee as the January window approaches.
But with East London already home to one sluggish, goal-shy number nine in Fullkrug, even those fancy flicks and that tidy footwork would not make up for his lack of end product. West Ham need a goalscorer. A reliable one at that. A centre-forward who can link the play while also offering a physical presence, pace in behind, and net-busting ball-striking.
Finding one is easier said than done, of course. But West Ham won’t find one in Joshua Zirkzee.