'A secret' - Joshua Zirkzee opens up on Ruud van Nistelrooy advice at Manchester United

Joshua Zirkzee has praised the impact that Ruud van Nistelrooy is having on his game at Manchester United after detailing the work the club's former striker is doing with the current crop of forwards.

Van Nistelrooy returned to the club this summer and has been hands-on at Carrington as one of Erik ten Hag's assistant, while the Dutchman is often a visible presence in the technical area as well.

The 48-year-old scored 150 goals in 219 games for United and with the current squad featuring a young group of forwards his influence is already beginning to show.

Zirkee got off the mark on his debut and has had chances to add to that tally against Liverpool and Southampton, while United have plundered 10 goals in two games this week, with Marcus Rashford back to form after netting three of them.

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Rasmus Hojlund's return to training will strengthen the competition for places in attack but 23-year-old Zirkzee has started the last two Premier League games after his £36.5million move from Bologna in the summer transfer window. He was reluctant to go into too much detail about Van Nistelrooy's methods but did reveal he was working closely with the forwards and going through video to improve their games.

“I want to keep it a secret,” Zirkzee told ViaPlay when asked what they had been working on.

“(It’s been) great. He’s been a striker. Detailed work. Watching footage. Looking back. The way he works with you. That’s very important. I can relate to that; You can learn a lot from him."

Zirkzee was also full of praise for his international teammate and fellow new arrival at Old Trafford Matthijs de Ligt. The centre-back got his first goal for United in the win at Southampton.

The pair had contrasting international breaks in September, with De Ligt criticised for mistakes against Bosnia and Germany, while Zirkzee scored his first goal for the Netherlands.

“It was nice to see him score. Matthijs is of course my buddy here. Also in the Dutch team,” he said.

“It was a moment. Matthijs also jumped in front of me. I almost got his foot in my face afterwards. I was just super happy for him.

“I don’t really want to say it, but I think it was written about him in a difficult period because of what happened at the Dutch national team. I don’t think that had an effect on him.

“But I was just super happy for him. He also played great. He’s in the group. He’s great for us. I was just very happy.”