3 months ago
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Joshua Zirkzee has been told that he is ‘not ready’ to join Manchester United in the summer transfer window by fellow Dutchman Bryan Roy.
United are reportedly interested in a deal to sign Zirkzee ahead of the 2024-25 campaign while Arsenal, AC Milan and Inter Milan are also keeping tabs on him.
Zirkzee has a €40m (£34m) release clause in his Bologna contract and the Dutch star seems destined for a big move after massively impressing for the Italian club.
The Red Devils tried to sign Zirkzee all the way back in 2017 when he was just 16-years-old in the Feyenoord academy.
Six years later – in the 2023 January transfer window – the Red Devils reignited their interest in the player, which forced Bologna chief Marco Di Vaio to respond.
Bologna managed to keep hold of Zirkzee in January but United are now once again trying to bring the 23-year-old forward to Old Trafford.
Roy, though, who earned 32 caps for the Netherlands between 1989 and 1995, has urged his compatriot to consider staying with Bologna for another full season.
‘Zirkzee, unlike [Teun] Koopmeiners, is not yet ready for the big leap,’ Roy told Tutto Juve.
‘He is still young, we need another year in Bologna in which to score a lot.
‘It would be important to test yourself in the same team but with a different coach [after Thiago Motta left to join Juventus]. Then he’ll think about what to do.’
Interestingly, former United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of Zirkzee’s biggest idols in football.
Like Ibrahimovic, Zirkzee is known for his physical dominance and clinical finishing.
Zirkzee, who has been with Bologna since 2022 and has produced 14 goals and nine assists in 58 appearances, was crowned Serie A Best Young Player for 2024.
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