AC Milan have been handed a boost in their pursuit of Joshua Zirkzee with the idea of a return to Bayern Munich currently unlikely, a report claims.
This mornings edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes that Zirkzee knows he has to decide his future in the next two months, given the amount of clubs that are interested in signing him.
In recent weeks there has already been a lot of talk about Bayern Munich having the chance to re-sign him for €40m. However, the German club have other priorities at the moment and the striker is not keen on returning.
The Bayern factor
In short, that option does not attract the player nor his former team at present. Of course Zirkzee has great respect for Bayern, who signed him at 16 when he was a promising player for Feyenoord. However, his years in Munich had ups and downs and did not end on a high note.
Zirkzee was launched by Bayern in December 2019 and responded with a record: he was the fastest player in Bundesliga history to score twice. However, 2020 brought a few games as a starter and nothing more, until the move to Parma in January 2021.
Since then Zirkzee has had success in Belgium, in Italy and in short, he would love to have new experiences. Bayern meanwhile chose Harry Kane last summer, who is 30 years old and still has plenty of football ahead of him.
Mathys Tel, the 18-year-old who arrived in 2022 from Rennes, means that Bayern already have an investment in a young striker to protect. For this reason, the Bavarian side are not likely to spend the €40m to bring Zirkzee back.
Milan’s interest
Milan have put the Dutchman at the forefront of their wish list together with Benjamin Sesko. They know Bayern can re-acquire Zirkzee for €40m, have the possibility of matching any offers and a significant resale percentage – not far from 50%.
In short, to sign Zirkzee, Milan must invest at least €40m. Bologna meanwhile are making their own calculations, knowing that they have a very valuable asset that they must try raise as much as possible from.
Firstly, in the event of qualification for the Champions League – something now definitely in the picture – they can make an attempt to keep Zirkzee for another season. Secondly, Rasmus Hojlund was sold by Atalanta to Manchester United for around €75m plus €10m in bonuses.
That transfer is being used as a reference figure by the Rossoblu because Zirkzee has comparable numbers and age, he could cost a similar amount. For Bologna it would be a sensational capital gain, considering that the 22-year-old cost €8.5m.
Zlatan and the big threats
The conditions of a potential deal will weight in Milan’s evaluation, as will the the opinion of Stefano Pioli or another coach, plus the word of Zlatan Ibrahimovic who will have strong ideas together with Giorgio Furlani, Geoffrey Moncada and Antonio D’Ottavio.
With Zirkzee, in theory, there is a common thread linking past and future: Zlatan was one of Joshua’s favourite players and he now, more than others, resembles a young Ibra in the way that he plays.
The big threat comes from the Premier League. English clubs have a superior purchasing power and Zirkzee knows that, sooner or later, he will play in England. His idea is probably to do it in a few years but in short, not everything in life is foreseen.
So pay attention to Manchester United, who made a move, and to Arsenal who have a game suited to enhancing his improvisations and his tendency to play as more of a ‘9.5’ than a typical centre-forward.
