Manchester United working to finalise Joshua Zirkzee deal, have ...

Manchester United are working to finalise the signing of Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee.

United have agreements in place on personal terms and agent commission, which is sizable but viewed at Old Trafford as fair in the context of an overall package deemed good value for money.

Zirkzee’s contract includes a €40million (£34m) release clause and talks continue about the fee. The clause must be paid in full, which is a potential cashflow issue for the Premier League club, and they are therefore exploring whether to activate it or negotiate a price separately.

However, Zirkzee is the striker United have decided to pursue and a deal for the Netherlands international is now close to being secured.

Zirkzee has been monitored by a number of sides after an excellent campaign in Italy, where the 23-year-old scored 11 league goals and provided five assists for Thiago Motta’s Bologna as they qualified for next season’s Champions League.

The Athletic reported United were exploring a deal for Zirkzee last month, with increasing their forward options a priority to provide support for last summer’s £64m recruit Rasmus Hojlund and replace the departed Anthony Martial. United see Zirkzee as having a complementary skillset to Hojlund and being capable of strengthening their range of possibilities up front.

Another important position for United entering the summer window has been centre-back, with a £35m offer for Jarrad Branthwaite of Everton already submitted. They are also in discussions with Bayern Munich over Matthijs de Ligt, Zirkzee’s international team-mate.

In addition, they are actively pursuing Lille defender Leny Yoro, though Real Madrid are regarded as the favourites to sign the 18-year-old.

To date, United’s most significant off-season move has been the decision to keep Ten Hag as manager following an end-of-season review of his performance. Third-choice goalkeeper Tom Heaton has signed a one-year contract extension, while Benfica have triggered their option to buy in their loan deal for left-back Alvaro Fernandez.

Zirkzee made his senior Netherlands debut on Saturday as they beat Turkey 2-1 in their European Championship quarter-final. He had been a late call-up to Ronald Koeman’s squad after the Dutch suffered injuries ahead of the tournament.

Analysis by Elias Burke

United could do with a profile in attack to help goalkeeper Andre Onana’s long passes or Lisandro Martinez’s line-splitters from central defence stick up front.

Though Hojlund showed signs of impressive movement and finishing ability in his 2023-24 debut season at Old Trafford — registering 16 goals and two assists in 43 appearances — he did not always convince while leading the line under Erik ten Hag, where the transitional nature of United’s play meant too much was often asked of him.

With a partner such as Zirkzee, who is more comfortable dropping deeper and linking with attackers, Hojlund could be freed of the burden of facing both centre-backs to use his qualities higher up the pitch.

For games in which Ten Hag opts for a sole striker, their differing profiles mean there will always be an alternative available from the bench.

(Top photo: Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

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David Ornstein joined The Athletic in October 2019 after 12 years as a sports journalist and correspondent at the BBC. In the role of Football Correspondent, he is responsible for producing exclusive and original stories and interviews, offering unique insight and analysis. He works across video, audio and the written word. Follow David on Twitter @David_Ornstein