Manchester United player is splitting opinion but the evidence cannot be ignored

"That Zirkzee isn't very good," said someone in the press box at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

When you watch Zirkzee for the first time, he does not immediately catch the eye or look like the kind of player Manchester United should have signed for €42.5million (£36.5m).

He is not a natural goalscorer and it will be a surprise if he comfortably surpasses double digits, but United were worse when Zirkzee was substituted off against Crystal Palace.

Zirkzee was replaced by Marcus Rashford on the hour mark and it was a like-for-like change. Rashford played down the middle when he was introduced to the game but United suddenly weren't as effective going forward and they lacked the cohesion they had previously.

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Look away if you dislike football hipsters, but Zirkzee has described his best position as a '9.5', meaning he plays as a striker but likes to drop into deeper positions to link up the play.

Although he didn't score and missed a chance from close range, Zirkzee's link-up play was important in the 3-0 victory over Southampton and it was crucial again on Saturday evening.

Having a focal point in attack brings the best out of United's wingers and Zirkzee intelligently helps create space by drawing defenders to him and playing passes around them.

He was heavily involved in most attacking moves against Crystal Palace. Zirkzee played through Alejandro Garnacho for the first big chance of the game, he created hesitancy at the back when Garnacho hit the bar and also played a clever pass to Bruno Fernandes in the second half when the midfielder turned a shot wide of the post from the edge of the box.