Joshua Zirkzee appears to confirm Manchester United transfer | Football

United have made it a priority to sign a new centre-forward to support Rasmus Hojlund this summer, and Bologna striker Zirkzee has shot to the top of the club’s wishlist in recent weeks.

The Dutchman scored 11 goals and provided four assists for Bologna in Serie A last season and was part of Ronald Koeman’s side that were knocked out of Euro 2024 by England on Wednesday night.

The Red Devils have had to face stiff competition from Milan for Zirkzee’s signature and widespread reports indicate that a deal, believed to be worth around £33m, is close to being completed for the 23-year-old.

Milan reached an initial agreement with Zirkzee earlier in the window but the move fell through because they were unwilling to shell out an additional €15m (£12.6m) in commission to the Dutchman’s representative, Kia Joorabchian.

It is believed that Erik ten Hag spoke personally to his compatriot about the proposed move before personal terms were agreed.

United are expected to officially announce Zirkzee’s arrival in the coming days, but many fans believe the striker has already confirmed his impending move to the Theatre of Dreams.

Rather tellingly, Zirkzee ‘liked’ two separate posts on transfer guru Fabrizio Romano’s Instagram page, the second of which reads: ‘HERE WE GO! Man United agree to sign Joshua Zirkzee as first move for INEOS.’

Romano even reposted a screenshot of Zirkzee’s antics on his X profile, along with a shaking hands emoji, suggesting it was only a matter of time before United revealed their summer signing.

Following the Netherlands’ 2-1 win over Turkey at Euro 2024, Zirkzee refused to confirm whether or not he would be a Bologna player at the start of the 2024/25 season.

Asked if he will still play in Italy next season, Zirkzee told Sportitalia: “I don’t know, we’ll see.”

Asked whether there was a 50% chance of him staying at Bologna, Zirkzee replied: “We’ll see.”

The news comes after Bologna technical director Giovanni Sartori admitted the club were already exploring the market for a potential successor to Zirkzee in attack.

“Zirkzee has a release clause, so he will leave 99.9 percent,” Sartori told Sky Sport Italia.

‘We’ve 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.”

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