Manchester United are working to finalise the signing of Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee, according to the Athletic.
United have agreements in place on personal terms and agent commission, which is sizable but viewed at Old Trafford as fair in the context of an overall package deemed good value for money.
Zirkzee’s contract includes a €40million (£34m) release clause and talks continue about the fee. The clause must be paid in full, which is a potential cashflow issue for the Premier League club, and they are therefore exploring whether to activate it or negotiate a price separately.
However, Zirkzee is the striker United have decided to pursue and a deal for the Netherlands international is now close to being secured.
Zirkzee has been monitored by a number of sides after an excellent campaign in Italy, where the 23-year-old scored 11 league goals and provided five assists for Thiago Motta’s Bologna as they qualified for next season’s Champions League.
The Athletic reported United were exploring a deal for Zirkzee last month, with increasing their forward options a priority to provide support for last summer’s £64m recruit Rasmus Hojlund and replace the departed Anthony Martial.
United see Zirkzee as having a complementary skillset to Hojlund and being capable of strengthening their range of possibilities up front.
Zirkzee is currently with the Netherlands at the ongoing European Championship in Germany.
The former Bayern player was introduced in the second half as the Netherlands came from behind to defeat Turkey 2-1.
Ronaldo Koeman’s men will take on England in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
1 Comment
After their fans will be expecting miracles from them. They were supposed to have signed Osimhen last season but they went for Hojlund but ended up blaming Ten Hag for their failures. At least the coach will live next seasons ending