Manchester United will be chasing a striker signing this summer and the focus may be switching after suffering a transfer blow.
Short-term striker signings have been the norm for Manchester United in recent years.
Odion Ighalo, Edinson Cavani and Wout Weghorst all came in to give United some brief help before the club finally invested in a signing for the future last summer.
Rasmus Hojlund came in from Atalanta, completing a big-money move to Old Trafford after less than a year in Serie A.
The Dane had his ups and downs in his first season at Old Trafford, which was to be expected.
16 goals in all competitions wasn’t a bad return though and Hojlund should have a huge future at United ahead of him.
Manchester United focus on Joshua Zirkzee
United still need to find another striker though with Anthony Martial leaving the club this summer.
Martial missed most of the season through injury and it was clear that Hojlund needs real help in the final third.
Signing another striker to support Hojlund is pivotal this summer but United have suffered a blow in that regard.
RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko had an approach on the table from United but has chosen to stay in the Bundesliga.
With the Slovenian now off the table, United must pivot to other targets – and Bologna’s Joshua Zirkzee seems to be the next man up.
Sky Sports report that Zirkzee is now ‘emerging as one of Manchester United’s primary transfer targets’ this summer.
It’s stated that United have ‘made their interest clear’ and that Zirkzee is a prime candidate to come in as Hojlund’s competition.
Zirkzee can be signed for £34million this summer thanks to a release clause in his Bologna contract and that price may appeal to United.
That is much cheaper than the fee United would have been forced to pay for Sesko, with Ineos potentially seeing value in Zirkzee – especially with money needed for other positions.
Who is United target Zirkzee?
Zirkzee was a top talent in the ranks of ADO Den Haag and Feyenoord in his native Netherlands before joining Bayern Munich in 2017.
The 6ft 4in hitman showed promise in the Bayern second team and even scored four times in 17 first-team appearances for the Bundesliga giants.
A 2021 loan spell with Parma didn’t work out but Zirkzee was much better at Anderlecht in the 2021-22 season, smashing 18 goals under Vincent Kompany.
Bologna saw enough potential in Zirkzee to bring him to Italy, but two goals in 21 games left many unconvinced after his first season at the club.
Zirkzee kicked on this past season though, scoring 11 goals in 34 league games to help Bologna qualify for the Champions League.
A tall, physical and skilful striker, ZIrkzee has earned flattering comparisons to Zlatan Ibrahimovic having shown the ability to show outstanding technical ability from deep.
Zirkzee would be somewhat similar to Hojlund in terms of backing a young striker to make the transition from Serie A promise to Premier League quality, but it looks like he will become a key focus for United after missing out on Sesko.