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Joshua Zirkzee has hinted that he could be joining Manchester United this summer following the Netherlands’ 2-1 win over Turkey at Euro 2024.
United are pushing to sign the Bologna striker before the start of the new Premier League season after being unable to finance a move for a new forward in January.
AC Milan have also held extensive talks to sign the 23-year-old and had even reached an agreement with the striker last month before the transfer hit a stumbling block as the Serie A club refused to pay an additional €15 million (£12.6m) in commission to the player’s representative Kia Joorabchian.
That has allowed United to make their move and the Premier League side and are willing to activate the €40m (£33.7m) release clause in Zirkzee’s contract with Bologna, which is valid until August.
Reports in Italy earlier this week had also claimed that United manager Erik ten Hag has spoken directly with Zirkzee and has convinced him about a move to Old Trafford.
Zirkzee made his senior international debut for the Netherlands in their 2-1 win over Turkey in the Euro 2024 quarter final on Saturday evening, and speaking after the game, the striker could not guarantee that he will remain in Serie A.
Asked if he will still be playing in Italy next season, Zirkzee told Sportitalia: ‘I don’t know, let’s see.’
Asked if it’s a 50 per cent chance that he stays, Zirkzee replied: ‘Let’s see.’
Speaking earlier this week, Bologna’s technical director, Giovanni Sartori, confirmed that the club are already been working on signing a replacement for the Dutch striker.
‘Zirkzee has a clause so he will leave 99.9 per cent,’ Sartori told Sky Sport Italia.
‘We have 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.’
Zirkzee joined Bologna for £7m (€8.5m) from Bayern Munich in August 2022 and scored 11 goals in Serie A last season.
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