Joshua Zirkzee has been called up to the Netherlands squad for this summer’s European Championship in Germany.
The 23-year-old forward’s selection comes after Frenkie de Jong and Teun Koopmeiners were ruled out of the tournament this week through injury.
Ian Maatsen was called up on Tuesday to officially replace De Jong, with the Dutch Football Association (KNVB) saying that “Koeman’s final selection now consists of 25 players”, not adding whether the head coach will call up an additional player.
Zirkzee has now been selected to bring the Netherlands squad back up to the maximum 26 ahead of their opening group stage fixture against Poland on Sunday.
De Jong’s withdrawal, with the Barcelona midfielder failing to recover from an ankle injury, was confirmed on Monday night. The KNVB (Dutch FA) then confirmed Koopmeiners’ injury on Tuesday morning after the Atalanta midfielder sustained an injury in the warm-up ahead of Netherlands’ final Euros warm-up game against Iceland on Monday, having initially been named in the starting line-up.
Zirkzee scored 12 goals in 37 appearances for Bologna last season as the club qualified for the Champions League. The Athletic reported this month he has attracted interest from both AC Milan and Manchester United.
He has represented the Netherlands at youth level but is yet to be capped at senior international level.
Zirkzee spent his youth career at ADO Den Haag, Feyenoord and Bayern Munich, where he progressed into the first team before joining Bologna in 2022.
Netherlands have been drawn alongside Poland, Austria and France in Group D.
Netherlands Euro 2024 squad
Goalkeepers: Bart Verbruggen (Brighton), Mark Flekken (Brentford), Justin Bijlow (Feyenoord).
Defenders: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Stefan de Vrij (Inter), Micky van de Ven (Tottenham Hotspur), Daley Blind (Girona), Matthijs de Ligt (Bayern Munich), Nathan Ake (Manchester City), Denzel Dumfries (Inter), Lutsharel Geertruida (Feyenoord), Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen), Ian Maatsen (Borussia Dortmund, on loan from Chelsea).
Midfielders: Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig), Joey Veerman (PSV), Jerdy Schouten (PSV), Gini Wijnaldum (Al Ettifaq), Tijjani Reijnders ( AC Milan).
Forwards: Steven Bergwijn (Ajax), Memphis Depay (Atletico Madrid), Brian Brobbey (Ajax), Wout Weghorst (Hoffenheim), Donyell Malen (Borussia Dortmund), Cody Gakpo (Liverpool), Joshua Zirkzee (Bologna).
(Luca Amedeo Bizzarri/Getty Images)
