The AC Milan leadership had the chance to watch Joshua Zirkzee up close on Saturday night, and he certainly left an impression at San Siro.
Antonio Vitiello describes Zirkzee’s performance in his column for MilanNews as a ‘test passed with flying colours’. The Dutchman proved to be a player capable of making a difference even in front of over 70,000 fans, having done so against both Inter and Milan.
Elegant, strong athletically and technically, there is a feeling that Zirkzee has what it takes to be the future No.9 for a top team. He is not an elite scorer yet, but eight goals and two assists in the league, plus one goal and two assists in the Coppa Italia is not bad for a 22-year-old.
There are those who rightly point out that Milan need certainties, a striker with at least 20 goals per season, but that type of attacker costs three times as much and will have a salary that is ‘probably not in line with the RedBird project’ as per Vitiello.
Zirkzee’s price is currently around €40m, and even if there is strong competition in the Premier League he is within Milan’s parameters in terms of salary too.
Furthermore, the Rossoneri could use Alexis Saelemaekers as a counterpart to lower costs according to the journalist.
These are issues that will be addressed later, at the moment there is a strong appreciation for the Dutchman and the desire to keep the door open.
