“The New Lewandowski”: €70 million red-hot striker “prefers” AC Milan move to that of United, according to reports.
Manchester United’s late collapse against Chelsea in the Premier League on Thursday increased the pressure on manager Erik ten Hag.
Alejandro Garnacho scored twice, but poor defending allowed Cole Palmer to score three goals, condemning the Red Devils to their 12th defeat of the season. Rasmus Hojlund has not scored in his previous three league games after scoring in seven in a row, but he is the only player with double-digit goals this season. Marcus Rashford’s dedication was called into doubt after a dismal cameo at Stamford Bridge, and with Anthony Martial due to leave in the summer, signing a striker in the summer is crucial.
United’s Striker Hunt United have been linked with a number of frontmen this season, but one name that has been mentioned repeatedly is Bologna’s Joshua Zirkzee. The 22-year-old has 11 goals and six assists in 31 games across all competitions and is the leading scorer for Thiago Motta’s Serie A squad, which is presently fourth and in contention for a Champions League spot next season. The Netherlands U21 international’s performances have alerted United to his availability, with Arsenal also apparently in the running. However, according to Gazzetta Dello Sport, AC Milan is presently in prime position to sign the former Bayern Munich player.
Zirkzee, who won the Champions League while in Bavaria, has been compared to Robert Lewandowski in the past, and the Bundesliga giants have a repurchase clause, but the player is hesitant to return since he “prefers to stay in Serie A” for now. At the Rossoneri, he would be the undisputed starter, with the opportunity to demonstrate his quality at a massive club with an intriguing project under Stefano Pioli. “He clearly chooses Milan over Bayern Munich, which has a 40 million option to exercise at the end of the season.
“Joshua knows that at Milan he will not need to change, he will play in a championship and face a group of opponents that he knows well, at the same time he can also test himself in the Champions League and be with a great team.” The major stumbling block will be his projected fee, with Bologna looking at United’s agreement for Hojlund last summer as a benchmark and preparing to ask for approximately €70-80 million. Zirkzee prefers to stay in Serie A. The seven-time Champions League winners cannot afford to pay that much and are willing to include Alexis Saelemaekers as part of a player-plus-cash deal.
Their primary concern is that United and Arsenal will outbid them if they make an offer that Bologna cannot refuse. “It is realistic to speculate that Milan might achieve close to 50 million by leveraging Alexis Saelemaekers’ debt, which Bologna can repay for roughly ten million and is highly valued by Thiago Motta. “If the major English teams come to Italy with a bag full of coins, they become unstoppable. Manchester United has already made an offer for Zirkzee, and if they return with a large sum, the midfielder has a significant possibility of leaving. The same goes for Arsenal, who are less well-known but have an ideal project for Zirkzee.”