McCoist can’t believe what he’s now hearing about struggling Man Utd man, it’s ‘bang out of order’

Last night, a report circulated claiming that Erik ten Hag had no desire to sign £36.5 million man Joshua Zirkzee over the summer.

It also remarked that when the forward arrived at Old Trafford in July, he was ‘overweight’ by approximately a stone – real cutting-edge journalism from the usual suspects.

Nonetheless, Ally McCoist has reacted to the rumours on talkSPORT this morning, telling the panel that it’d be ‘bang out of order’ if that were the case during Zirkzee’s medical.

“I don’t know enough about it. I don’t know what his weight is, I don’t know what his weight should be, but if he’s a stone overweight, I’ve got to say it’s bang out of order,” the Scot declared. “I would suggest that’s maybe exaggerating a little bit.

“I don’t think he’s going to turn up a stone overweight with a big transfer fee going to a big club. I would be staggered if that was the case. One or two pounds perhaps, that he thinks he could lose in the first couple of weeks of training or so, but Jeff, a stone overweight today?”

A lacklustre start for Zirkzee at Old Trafford

Irrespective of Zirkzee’s fitness troubles, it’s safe to say that things simply have to pick up for him on the pitch. Reports like Monday’s would gain less traction if he were in prolific form, as nobody would be able to question his commitment to the cause.

However, that’s not the case for now. The 23-year-old got off to a dream start when scoring a winning goal in front of the Stretford End on his debut, but he has yet to add to his account in his subsequent 14 appearances in all competitions.

The return of counterpart Rasmus Hojlund, who was sidelined at the beginning of the campaign, has also put Zirkzee’s role in jeopardy, and it remains to be seen how much he’ll feature when Ruben Amorim officially takes the reins and implements his 3-4-3 formation.