Manchester United’s lead striker target certainly has no shortage of talent.
But he’s certainly not a footballer at the level of a Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.
And it is that point which is giving fans of his current club some hope that there is indeed life after Joshua Zirkzee.
With his £34 million release clause now active, a deal to take the mercurial Dutchman away from Bologna may be only days away.
The iNews report that Manchester United are hoping to seal a deal for Zirkzee – and Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt for that matter – within the next week.
Now, we’ve seen this before. An overachieving club seeing their squad picked off by well-heeled vultures. Bologna now look destined to suffer the same fate as Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Lille and co before them.
While AC Milan are still in the mix, Zirkzee looks increasingly likely to become Man United’s Anthony Martial replacement.
Manchester United close in on Bologna’s Joshua Zirkzee
Buccaneering centre-back Riccardo Calafiori, who has also been tipped to end up at Old Trafford in some quarters, is closing in on a £42 million move to Arsenal.
For one-time Rossoblu ace Fabio Poli, however, no one is irreplaceable. Well, no one except the very best world football has to offer, that is.
Poli also feels that a striker in Zirkzee’s mould will be easier to move on from than the seemingly Emirates-bound Calafiori.
Left-sided, ball-playing centre-halves are not only all the rage, they are also pretty hard to come by.
“It is certain that (Zirkzee and Calafiori) could not be kept in the face of certain offers,” says Poli, who had two spells at Bologna in the 1980s and 1990s, per Tuttomercatoweb.
“Only the pitch and the new players will be able to ensure that the (dissapointment at losing these two) can be offset.
“However, all the players are replaceable except for Mbappe, Ronaldo or Messi. We fans must have faith in the management. I must also say that Calafiori is less replaceable than Zirkzee.”
Serie A outfit braced for departure
Both the Dutchman and the Italian played a major role as high-flying, coupon-busting Bologna secured Champions League qualification for the first time in their history in 2023/24. The filleting of this brilliant young team has already begun, however.
Head coach Thiago Motta heading to Juventus and at least two of his star men also packing their bags.
The iNews add that there is a confidence at Man United that Zirkzee’s arrival will benefit fellow frontman Rasmus Hojlund.
The one-time Bayern Munich youngster will ease the goalscoring burden on Hojlund, while also giving Erik ten Hag’s frontline a different sort of dimension with his intelligent movement, his excellent link play, and his willingness to drop deep.
“Joshua Zirkzee has release clause into his contract,” explains Bologna director Giovanni Sartori, seemingly accepting defeat in his hopes of convincing the 23-year-old to stay put, per Fabrizio Romano.
“And I believe he’s 99 per cent (likely to) leave the club.”
