Joshua Zirkzee is going through an eventful debut season at Manchester United. He has struggled with inconsistency, causing frustration among fans. The Dutchman was even booed in the Red Devils’ loss to Newcastle United at half-time this season.
Zirkzee has somewhat picked up his form after that and even scored in Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Leicester City in the FA Cup fourth round. Three of his five goals (in 36 games) for the Red Devils have come as a substitute. He needs to improve his quality when starting games and also be more clinical to be a long-term success at Old Trafford.
Amidst his on-the-pitch issues, the Dutchman remains a vibrant figure in real life. He loves being involved in interactive quiz shows with teammate Matthijs de Ligt. Amidst his participation in these events, fans discovered that Zirkzee actually boasts a wicked accent while speaking English.
He does not have any thickness or any slurring to the way he speaks English. In fact, Zirkzee’s easy-going speaking skills and almost street-like vibe makes his accent very African-American centric. Any person unknown to Joshua’s reputation can’t be faulted for regarding him as an American person rather a Dutchman.
The 23-year-old forward was born in Schiedam (Netherlands) to a Dutch father and Nigerian mother. He has admitted to have attended the same high school as his (ex) Manchester United teammate Tyrell Malacia. It was during his educational pursuits that Zirkzee started learning the English language.
In the Netherlands, Dutch remains the primary language taught in high schools. In the Netherlands, at least 50% of the subjects are taught in English in billingual schools. Over 90% of the Netherlands population knows how to speak English fluently because of the school-level education. Hence, Zirkzee knew how to speak English as he was growing up.
Soon after learning English, Zirkzee ventured into a ‘a path of discovery’ like many Gen-Z kids like him. The expansion of the internet into the 2010s decade helped. Young Joshua found a particular love for popular personalities from the United Staets of America.
The Dutchman has admitted that he was a big Basketball fan growing up. He’s claimed that the 2014 documentary ‘Iverson’ about NBA legend Allan Iverson attracted him onto the sport.
He had told Manchester United club magazine about his love for Basketball, claiming: “I started watching basketball when I was around 15, 16 maybe, and it started because of, you know, Michael Jordan and the big ones. But the main reason why I really got into watching actual basketball and really got my interest was a documentary about Allen Iverson, and he was the first player that I really saw.”
Zirkzee is also a big fan of American rap artist Westside Gunn. He has admitted to loving listening to Gunn’s music and that the rapper was also on no.1 on his Spotify Yearly Wrapped in 2024. The 23-year-old’s popular ‘gun celebration’ is also the influence of another pop-culture product.
Zirkzee did this popular celebration after scoring his first Manchester United goal in the 1-0 win over Fulham at the start of the 2024/25 season. He even did it after scoring the winning penalty in the win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in the FA Cup third round.
Zirkzee has even claimed that his celebration was inspired from a scene from Quinten Tarantino’s film ‘Django Unchained’. He revealed: “I started off with something else. But I got it from the film Django Unchained. There’s a point where he (Christoph Waltz) teaches Django (Jamie Foxx) to shoot.”
It’s clear that the Manchester United forward’s parents allowed him to develop his personality by being influenced by more English-centric products. That is why he’s also able to design his personal English fluency to speak like someone born and brought up in an English-speaking country like the UK.
Zirkzee appears to be a really cool personality who can glow up the mood of those around him. But it’s now time for the 23-year-old to significantly improve his goal-scoring consistency because just being a good talker will not earn him a starring role at Old Trafford.
