Joshua Zirkzee is now open to joining Manchester United (Shutterstock)
Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee is ready to join Manchester United after holding direct talks with Erik ten Hag, according to reports in Italy.
United are looking to sign a new striker in the summer transfer window to provide competition for Rasmus Hojlund after being unable to finance a move in January.
Zirkzee is one of the leading candidates on United’s shortlist but the Premier League club have faced strong competition from AC Milan to sign the 23-year-old, who is available due to a €40 million (£33.7m) release clause in his contract with Bologna.
AC Milan had appeared to be leading the race for Zirkzee and they had even reached an agreement with the striker last month, however, the transfer hit a stalemate as the Serie A club refused to pay an additional €15m (£12.6m) in commission to the player’s representative Kia Joorabchian.
That has handed United an opportunity to strike a deal and according to Corriere di Bologna, Zirkzee is now closing in on a move to Old Trafford, while AC Milan are now in talks over alternative striker targets, including Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku.
The report claims that United have reached an agreement over the commission payments but more crucially, Zirkzee is now convinced about a switch to United after speaking with Ten Hag about his potential role in the team.
Joshua Zirkzee is currently with the Netherlands squad at Euro 2024 (Shutterstock)
Speaking earlier this week, Bologna’s technical director, Giovanni Sartori, confirmed that the Italian club are already been working on signing a replacement for the Dutch striker.
‘Zirkzee has a clause so he will leave 99.9 per cent,’ Sartori told Sky Sport Italia.
‘We have been thinking about his replacement for months.
‘It won’t be easy but we will work to replace him, we already have some names, some ideas.’
After confirming the appointment of Dan Ashworth as their new sporting director this week, United are wasting little time in trying to add to Ten Hag’s squad as they are also in talks with Bayern Munich over a deal for Matthijs de Ligt.
It’s understood that De Ligt, who is alongside Zirkzee in the Netherlands squad for Euro 2024, is open to joining United while Bayern are willing to sell the centre-back, who started just 16 games in the Bundesliga last season.
Bayern are holding out for a €50m (£42m) fee for De Ligt but there is a confidence that an agreement can be reached.
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