The 23-year-old has only scored once in nine games since signing from Bologna in the summer for £36.5million.
Following the return of Rasmus Hojlund to the starting XI after injury, Zirkzee has seen his minutes on the pitch reduced in the last few weeks.
And in the view of Gullit, who won three Serie A titles and two Champions Leagues with Milan, his compatriot's development would have been better served by him remaining in Italy.
'Zirkzee should have joined Milan rather than Manchester United,' the 62-year-old told Gazzetta. 'He knew Serie A and a couple extra seasons in this competition at a top club like Milan would have been ideal for his development. Now, he’s in a club with many problems, which is not making his growth easy.'
Ruud Gullit believes that Joshua Zirkzee should have snubbed Manchester United in favour of a move to AC Milan
The Italian giants held talks with Zirkzee but failed to reach an agreement over his agent's commission.
Old Trafford has not been a kind place to new arrivals over the last decade. Zirkzee would not be the first promising young player to falter, should things fail to come together for him at the club.
In fact, he would be the latest in an increasing list of rising Dutch stars to have their wings clipped by joining the Manchester club. The likes of Memphis Depay and Donny van de Beek endured torrid spells at the club.
'I hope Zirkzee can turn it around, even if needing some time to settle in is natural,' Gullit added. 'He’s undoubtedly a good player, but it’s hard to do well at Man United in this historical moment.'
Last month, Erik ten Hag backed the young forward to become a lethal goalscorer for the Red Devils and urged fans to have patience with his team.
‘He is young and you see his capabilities. He is a very good link-up player, he is creative, he is creating chances, but to be fair he has his moments towards the goal.
‘In that area he can definitely improve, but we knew that beforehand. He has some very good attributes and some attributes he has to improve. He needs our support how to improve.
‘We are not scoring enough goals enough, that is the problem. It’s the key area and we have to score more goals as a team. We have players who have the ability to score, that is clear. You see all the opportunities we are creating, but we are not scoring enough.’
United travel to Villa Park to take on Unai Emery's confident Aston Villa side on Sunday knowing defeat could spell the end of Ten Hag's time at the club.