£35m striker suffers nervy display as director appears to rule out Manchester United transfer

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Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee suffered a rather nervy performance this weekend amid links with a 2024 move to Manchester United.

United’s desperate need for a striker was highlighted once again over the weekend.

Rasmus Hojlund’s illness meant he missed out against Nottingham Forest whilst Anthony Martial is still out of action.

Marcus Rashford did find the net in a 2-1 United defeat but it’s pretty clear that he is better off on the left flank than up front.

Martial just can’t be relied upon and Hojlund needs help, so United may well look towards the transfer market again in 2024…

Joshua Zirkzee struggles after Manchester United links

One of the new names in the mix is Bologna hitman Joshua Zirkzee.

The 22-year-old – formerly of Bayern Munich – is starting to live up to his early potential with seven goals in 18 Serie A games this season.

Reports last week suggested that United are looking at Zirkzee as a potential signing for around £35million.

If United scouts were watching Zirkzee this weekend, they may not have been too impressed.

Zirkzee drew a blank as Bologna lost 3-0 at Udinese with Tuttomercatoweb rating him at just 5 out of 10.

They suggested that Zirkzee looked ‘nervous’ and that this really wasn’t his day, compounded by a yellow card.

Zirkzee has now gone four games without a goal, so the Dutchman may need to start finding his best form again in order to land a move to Old Trafford.

Marco Di Vaio comments on Zirkzee rumours

Bologna sporting director Marco Di Vaio has now spoken to Gazzetta dello Sport about Zirkzee.

Di Vaio claims that a release clause in Zirkzee’s contract is only valid for Bayern Munich as part of the terms from his 2022 transfer.

DI Vaio adds that Bologna will not sell anybody in January and would simply refuse to answer any phone calls for key players like Zirkzee.

“The release clause is only valid for Bayern — and in January our top players will not move,” said Di Vaio. “How many phone calls have we received? None. And we wouldn’t answer anyway,” he added.

We aren’t expecting United to spend big money in January, so a huge deal for Zirkzee seems very unlikely.

Maybe Zirkzee is one to keep an eye on for the summer window or maybe even beyond, but we would ideally like to see United bring in a more experienced striker to help Hojlund, rather than another raw diamond like Zirkzee.