AC Milan’s potential move for Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee could be impacted by the move that Manchester United made for Rasmus Hojound in the summer of 2023, a report suggests.
As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Milan News), Bologna are willing to use previous moves from Serie A to inform their asking price for Zirkzee who has been in superb form this season.
Atalanta managed to get €75m plus €10m in bonuses from Man Utd last summer for Hojlund, a player who actually did not have a superb goal record in Serie A but had shown signs of being a great striker.
Zirkzee is two years older than Hojlund was when he made that move, but Zirkzee has already scored the number of Serie A goals this season that Hojlund did in his final season at Atalanta, which is nine.
For this reason, Bologna think they have every right to ask for the same fee that Atalanta got from Man Utd. As well as that, they must remember that Bayern Munich will get 50% of the transfer fee that Bologna get for Zirkzee due to a clause they inserted in the deal to sell the Dutchman.
They will either be able to exercise that clause, or buy Zirkzee themselves for €40m thanks to the buy-back clause. There is one advantage that Milan have over Bayern when it comes to Zirkzee though, which is that he wants to stay in Italy.
This is exactly what I wrote under another article in response to someone’s comment about how Zirkzee wasn’t worth 40m. I think Bologna will ask for 60m. We won’t pay it. Like I also said in that other post, we should strike a deal with Bayern, whereby they exercise their 40m buy back on Zirkzee, and then send us Zirkzee and 20m for Mike. There are a lot of moving parts to that deal, but it may be the only way to get Zirkzee given the Hojlund price.
if you want to pay 60m for Zirkzee you are insane
If you are referring to my comment, you haven’t read it correctly. If you mean generally, then yes, it’s a bit insane, but so was 74m for Hojlund and someone paid it. Thus, that sets the market for Zirkzee, who is on pace to have a better season than Hojlund did last season.
Correct, if Bologna asks for 60 million, any club can contact Bayern and offer them 45 million , or if Bayern thinks that this player is worth that much, it can decide to keep the player considering that Tuchel is gone at the end of year (official) and Zirkzee is home-grown for Bayern.
The fact that PL teams can offer crazy amounts, doesn’t mean that it’s the value of the player or that teams in any other major league are willing to offer that.
A simple question is to compare Zirkzee vs Arnautovic who had similar stats last year with Bologna(slightly better I believe). I understand that now Arnautovic is considered semi-old, but If Arnautovic was 5 years younger, would you have paid 30+ million for him?
Zirkzee is worth 50-70 mln. There is no way a player with his technical abilities is worth 40 mln nowadays as some Milan fans on this site seem to think. The only hope for Milan is that no richer club wants Zirkzee but he insists to leave, and thus force Bologna to undersell.
I meant 60-70.
yeah 70m for 9 league goals this season, you think every club in this world think like EPL clubs dont you? Hojlund’s fee has nothing to do with any other striker’s fee
Yes, such are the prices nowadays. He is suitable as a winger or second striker, not as a centre forward. Hence 9 goals are not bad at all. Furthermore, 9 goals now means he can reach 15 in a full season. Those who can get around 25 goals (Osimhen, Lautaro, Toney) are worth 100+ mln.
50-70 mil for someone who’s been good for half a season, and still has many areas to improve?
He is just 22. The young age adds value to the price. Kolo Muani was good for a season and he got sold for 95 mln. He still continues to have obvious issues with shooting. Caicedo was good for a single season and got sold for 113 mln. Joao Felix was good for a season only and he got sold for over 100 mln. Darwin Nunez was good for a single season and got sold for over 80 mln. Goncalo Ramos was good for only a season and got solf for 85 mln. Prices have gone up a lot in recent years. All these players still continue to have much to improve.
Hojlund for 74m, and only one season in Serie A. Prior to that he was in Austria. So yeah, it’s possible. Not saying these valuations are correct, but that’s football in 2024.
Imagine how much a player like Berardi should cost if he’s no central striker and still scores as much or more than Zirkzee…
Zirkzee play good because Orsolini behind him,
Zirkzee isn’t player that can win the game by himself (like Z Kaka Sheva), Orsolini is the master mind of Bologna