Manchester United may now face a real battle to sign Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee with Premier League rivals Arsenal now joining the race.
If we could predict one thing about United’s transfer business in 2024, it would be the arrival of another striker.
No matter who is in charge, no matter who is influencing recruitment, United simply have to land a forward in 2024.
Rasmus Hojlund has big potential but his first half-season at Old Trafford has highlighted that he needs help in the final third.
Anthony Martial clearly isn’t that player and United will already be looking for targets – and seemingly face a battle for one of them.
Arsenal join Manchester United in race to sign Joshua Zirkzee
Reports in December suggested that United had shown an interest in signing Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee.
A price tag of up to £35million was mentioned at that point with a January deal thought to be somewhat tricky.
The Dutchman has been in strong form this season with seven goals in 19 Serie A games, beginning to fulfil the potential he showed at Bayern Munich.
United will face competition though as The Telegraph claim Arsenal are interested in bringing Zirkzee to the Premier League.
It’s suggested that Bologna now want around £50million for Zirkzee and a January deal is thought to be ‘complicated’ at this stage.
Arsenal are looking at strikers, just like United, and it looks like the Gunners could pose strong competition for Zirkzee’s signature in 2024.
What has been said about Zirkzee?
The 22-year-old has long been tipped for a big future but has maybe taken a little longer than imagined to make a big impact.
Whether United should be going for another fairly young striker to support Hojlund is up for debate; many would surely rather see a more experienced arrival.
Zirkzee certainly has taken though and we have even seen him being compared to former United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic over in Italy…
“He has great potential, last year he had some adaptation difficulties but today he is capable of doing a complete job. He is technical and very physical. He manages to do both phases well. He is a very high quality player. He deserves everything he is experiencing today. He just has to keep working and not change anything,” – Bologna boss Thiago Motta.
“It has been clear for some time that he is a strong player. Those who are good take these talents, cultivate them and manage to make them explode. For some moves I see Ibra again. He is an atypical striker who also manages to score many goals,” – Torino boss Ivan Juric.
“This summer, speaking with friends, I said that he seemed to have incredible technical skills. And I was sure that Thiago would not cage him, but would help him simplify his game,” – ex-Italy boss Cesare Prandelli.
“He’s a humble boy who works and puts in a lot of effort, all his qualities are coming out which we enjoy and we’re trying to get to the end of the championship in the best possible way,” – Bologna midfielder Giovanni Fabbian.
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