Manchester United move ahead of Arsenal for striker signing

Manchester United are looking to take advantage of Arsenal fading from the race to sign Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna, according to a report.

David Ornstein reports for The Athletic that Manchester United are exploring a deal for Bologna’s Joshua Zirkzee, with interest advanced and dialogue with the striker’s camp.

At this stage, Zirkzee is one of multiple options for United, and there have been no club-to-club talks yet. But United are considering a move and they’re award of the player’s €40m release clause.

Zirkzee’s salary and the agent commission for the deal are also factors to be resolved, even if the release clause makes the fee negotiations more straightforward.

Arsenal have been linked with Zirkzee in the past, but Ornstein’s article makes no mention of the Gunners. His colleague James McNicholas recently reported that despite the links in the media, Arsenal do not intend to pursue the striker this summer.

Back in February, The Telegraph claimed that the Gunners were considering a summer move.

But as AC Milan made their push to sign him, Arsenal seemingly made no attempt to respond, and that doesn’t seem to have changed now that Manchester United are making their own attempt.

As mentioned, Zirkzee has a €40m release clause, but Italian reports suggest the player’s agent – Kia Joorabchian – is hoping for a large agent fee.

That agent fee is seemingly one of the reasons a deal with Milan didn’t go through (or hasn’t yet gone through), with the Serie A club looking to reduce it before committing to the transfer.

23-year-old Zirkzee provided 19 goal contributions in 37 games for Bologna this season as they finished fifth in Serie A and reached the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.