Romano: Zirkzee remains ‘Milan’s priority’ but details must be sorted out

By Euan Burns -

AC Milan are still very keen on signing Joshua Zirkzee this summer but the deal is not imminent, with his release clause and salary demands needing to be properly understood.

As reported by Fabrizio Romano (via Milan Zone), the Rossoneri still view Zirkzee as the priority this summer and he is the striker that they are working hardest to sign so that there is a replacement for Olivier Giroud in the team.

The deal is clearly not close to completion though, as they need to meet his release clause which will reportedly be €40m between July 1 and August 15, whilst also ironing out a contract agreement with him and commissions for the agents and middlemen involved with the deal.

Right now, the club are focused on the friendly in Australia and the appointment of Paulo Fonseca as the replacement for Stefano Pioli, and then the transfers can get underway with more pace.

There is plenty of competition for Zirkzee, and from clubs with more money to offer in wages. Arsenal and Manchester United could pose a real problem for the Rossoneri, whilst Juventus are also in the frame as they seek an alternative to Dusan Vlahovic ahead of the new season.

Tags AC Milan Joshua Zirkzee

24 Comments

  1. Guess nobody expected him to get this good so soon while negotiating that contract.. 40M is cheap AF for a young upcoming ST nowadays

    1. “Right now, the club are focused on the friendly in Australia”

      I hope this is media bs who cares about that lousy game, just god damn focus on the mercato, our Serie A rivals are already way ahead of us.

    2. Well that’s part of the way a mid-table club can negotiate contracts with relatively ‘big name’ players, by saying “if you do really well then there’s a way to leave which benefits us both”.

    3. The problem is, his numbers are just not there. He is not “that” young as we would be talking about complete junior, he is 23 years old. And he already had 3 seasons in pro football:
      1. Anderlecht – 15 goals in Belgian league in full season
      2. Bologna – 2 goals in Serie A – didn’t play that much due to injury and being bench player afterwards
      3. Bologna – 11 goals in full season

      Sorry, but these are just not outstanding numbers, and 40M is quite a lot of money for team like Milan nowadays. He’s just not worth that much in Italian scope, but the problem is English clubs have so much money they can offer whatever they want, and therefore increase that value.

      1. meh. we want him for his link play to involve the wingers & mids, not his goal scoring prowess. Also tall ST for some reason start playing better at 23-24.. He had his 23yo bd last week.. its a good deal, and 40M is not a lot of mone for a club like Milan. We have mone we just chose not to pay high fees

        1. Fonseca used David in Lille as a main striker in 4-3-2-1 who got 19 ligue goals this season and was 2nd league top striker (behind Mbappe), so your theory about need for player that should be playmaker rather than goal-scorer doesn’t really add up.

          1. Idk what that has to do with anything. Lille has sĥit wingers, Milan does not. And who is to say Zizy boi wont score 20 goals in Milan?

            Zirkzee in 2 years has become a more complete striker than David did in 4 years in France

          2. Well it has to do, since Fonseca seems to be one that will take over Milan. And under him, central striker scored a lot of goals, so we can expect similar style of play with Milan when he’d be best efficient with getting striker that will mainly score.
            And then you say Milan does not look for “scoring abilities” in Zirkzee.

            Sorry mate but I just don’t get your line of arguments. “Who says he will not score 20 goals with Milan” – that is something we can say about literally any striker from smaller team. If they scored 5-10-15 goals with smaller team, why won’t they will be able to score 20+ at Milan?

            I’m not saying Zirkzee surely will be a flop. Maybe yes, maybe not. But for me 40M is too much for a player like him, he is not proven, and there is a risk he will not be able to give much.

          3. I don’t get your line of arguments.. you know very well what prices are nowadays for strikers.. not proven strikers, that doesn’t exist anymore.. and you’re on here saying 40M is too much for a 23yo ST that just happens to be a complete package… because he isn’t proven!

            Well if he was proven his pricetag would be 120M. Right?

          4. Much rather have Zirkzee than David any day of the week

            But I’m sure that is who we will end up with as I would be shocked if we spend 55M on Zirkzee or ANY player for that matter…..Moneyball

        2. Well, that makes sense if he can play like Firmino, and Leao and Puli connect like Salah and Mane.

          However, traditionally, a real target man has been our priority in recent history.

          Whoever we sign, I will suggest we also sign Pavlidis, he seems an interesting profile we can explore.

  2. we are sleeping with Di Gregorio, we will also sleep with Buongirono.. I like to get Zirkzee but I think we will be too stingy so the agent want a big commision and we decline it.. so at the end we get a ligue 1 striker

    1. Why would you like to get Di Gregorio? Milan already has top-of-the-top goalkeeper Maignan, and as shown also really good one Sportiello (he could easily be a solid starter as well).

      Paying 20M euro to get 2/3 goalkeeper? Also one that would probably not be too happy with being just a bench player to get 2-3 games in a season in Coppa Italia? Mate that’s just not adding up. All Milan needs now is some solid experienced (meaning old) 3rd GK like Mirante.

      1. ATM Milan has MM16 but since they will not agree on the new contract he will be sold in order to not let him leave for free. Di Gregorio should have been bought.

  3. Zirkzee – 30 + Saelemaekers
    Buongiorno – 35 + players or bonuses
    Fofana – 20 + bonuses
    Santos – 10 + bonuses
    Spinazzola – free

    Dreaming too much?

    1. Spinazzola would be a great addition to the team. He is quite risky in terms of injuries, but as reserve player for Theo he would be perfect.

      Florenzi also had history of injuries, but in Milan he’s doing quite well.

    2. It is still on budget, anto vitielll say this club have 90m euro budget. The big problem for zirkzee are his agent asked fee 15m euro to whoever club pay that release clause 40m euro thats make 55m euro total

      1. I know, but I somehow rely on player’s will with Zirkzee. Spinazzola could as well demand hefty comission or a sign on fee considering he’s a bosman.

    3. I think we should take into account their agents fee+their contract.
      I’d go for the striker and midfielder first, then see what to do with the defense with what remains.

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