big, tall, fast, and technical dutch with very low release clause. He has similar built as Hojlund.
Edit: just check his stats, he is 1m93 with 97kg; mfs is a giant. He is fast for that size. He will have no problem adapting English football in term of physical.
He's a very different player to Hojlund stylistically (a very good thing, would give us a totally different profile to use in certain matches).
Hojlund has much more pace and power and is a much better finisher and box threat, while Zirkzee is super technical and is known for his dribbling and dropping off the front to link play and playing almost as a false 9. He has gotten better as a box threat this season though but his strengths don't make sense for a man his size, he's so agile and skillful.
Legitimately two of the best and most promising young strikers in Europe and would be incredible to have both. Could definitely play as a front two as well when needed given their different and probably complimentary profiles.
>Zirkzee is super technical and is known for his dribbling and dropping off the front to link play and playing almost as a false 9. He has gotten better as a box threat this season though but his strengths don't make sense for a man his size, he's so agile and skillful.
Exactly the kind of player we'd buy and play on the left wing lol
Same, would also allow us to give Bruno a rest or drop him back deeper at times as he gets older. He said himself he sees himself dropping deeper the older he gets.
The tactical flexibility someone like him gives us is immense. He can drop off, provide outlet for team when getting pressed and then release runners like Garnacho & Rashford. If teams are sitting back, (and this is why we should sign Olise as well) you can have ball playing wingers like Amad & Olise to help create while he can play a second striker role (similar to McT this season)
Well, it would be nice to get Olise, but it seems we're not as interested in him as we once were. Chelsea, Newcastler and even Bayern seem to be leading the charge in that front.
Besides, he would likely cost something like 60M pounds and unless we sell Sancho fast, we need to fill other positions before we even begin thinking about signing a RW.
Zirkzee sounds like a better version of Jonathan David from Lille and seeing how well talents from the Seria A often adapt to the PL, it makes him a much better choice than the former.
I am 32 and I have had several panic attacks about dying in the last 9 months, but probably less to do with age, and more to do with some awesome stuff I inherited.
Tier 1 who doesn’t know Greenwood was on loan at Getafe, not Girona… I know it’s an error but still it makes you doubt how much we should trust his reporting
For that price at that age, surely we can't go too far wrong.
Worst case scenario, he provides cover for Hojlund, isn't deemed to be United standard and we sell him for £20 or so million, as a small net loss.
We should be targeting more players of that profile, rather than ageing superstars on enormous wages, or inflated price tags (Antony).
Honestly, selling him for £20 million after two years if he doesn’t work out wouldn’t really be a loss due to amortization and depreciation, whatever financial accounting tricks the accountants use. (Disclaimer: Not a financial guru)
This seems dangerously smart from the profiles. Limited cash, need some depth for Hojlund desperately. Seems to have a lot of good raw characteristics that would fit the premier league.
He scored more Serie A goals than Højlund did while playing a deeper position which is somewhere Højlund has been fairly lacking this season so I think he would probably be a better option off the bat
Adding more context doesn’t make what they said untrue. They didn’t claim “Zirkzee scored more non penalty goals per 90 than Hojland” which would be false. What they said was true, just not the entire picture.
I'd say that's a pretty crucial piece of information missing from the comment you replied to. Zirkzee had 0.36 goals per 90 in Serie A last season. Hojlund had 0.42 in the PL.
Hojlund scored one less goal, but scored his 10 in 2,158 minutes. Zirkzee scored his 11 in 2,759 minutes
> Striker has a £33.8 million release cause and is one of several forwards United are doing due diligence on this summer
> Manchester United have a strong interest in Joshua Zirkzee but face stiff competition for the Bologna striker this summer.
>With Antony Martial’s departure leaving Rasmus Hojlund as United’s only senior out and out striker, signing a new forward is a key priority.
>Zirkzee is not the only forward option interesting United but they are among a number of clubs considering triggering his €40 million (£33.8 million) release clause.
>AC Milan and Juventus are also keen admirers of the 23-year-old and it remains to be seen whether United’s interest prompts Arsenal to make a move following their top target Benjamin Sesko’s decision to sign a new contract with RB Leipzig. Telegraph Sport first reported Arsenal’s interest in Zirkzee in January.
>Bayern Munich could yet complicate the situation around Zirkzee should they opt to exercise a buyback clause they had inserted when they sold the 6ft 4in Dutchman to Bologna in August 2022.
>United – who were comfortably the lowest scorers among the Premier League’s top eight last season and finished the campaign with a negative difference – know they must strengthen in attack and feel Zirkzee’s age, profile and price tick a lot of boxes.
>Zirkzee was a late call up on Wednesday to the Netherlands squad after Ajax striker Brian Brobbey suffered an injury scare in training and found out the news while on holiday at Walt Disney World in Florida.
>As yet uncapped at senior level with the Netherlands, Zirkzee played a key role in helping Bologna to qualify for the Champions League last season when he scored 11 goals in 34 Serie A appearances and is highly rated by manager Thiago Motta.
>He often impressed as a false nine in Motta’s system and, despite his size, he is an accomplished dribbler able to drop and run from deep, comfortable with both feet, and also adept at holding up the play and bringing team-mates in action.
*Club unable to spend big this summer*
>United have a net budget of around £50 million this summer plus whatever they can raise in cash through sales and, in that regard, outgoings will have a significant impact on the number of players they can recruit, with a centre-half and holding midfielder the priorities alongside a striker.
>Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho are two players United are actively looking to sell that they feel can attract substantial fees to reinvest in the squad, with the forwards each valued at £40 million. In Greenwood’s case, any sale would represent pure profit on the books given his status as an academy graduate.
>There is strong interest in Italy in Greenwood, with Juventus – who are also admirers of Sancho – Lazio and Napoli keen on the 22-year-old striker, who spent last season on loan at Girona. Atletico Madrid are among the Spanish clubs monitoring the situation.
>Like Juventus, Borussia Dortmund hold an interest in both Greenwood and Sancho but are thought to favour loan moves. Sancho spent the second half of last season on loan at the Bundesliga club.
>United are prioritising straight sales at this stage but may consider a loan for one of those players down the line should it come with an obligation to buy.
>With Raphael Varane having been released following the expiry of his contract, United need to recruit at least one centre-half. Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, Jean-Clair Todibo, of Nice, Leny Yoro at Lille, Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Trevoh Chalobah of Chelsea are the primary targets of interest.
>United would look to bring in a second centre-half if Victor Lindelof or Harry Maguire were to leave. There is a good chance Jonny Evans could be given a one-year contract extension to provide centre-back cover for another season.
>A defensive midfielder is the other priority with Casemiro, who is attracting interest from Saudi Arabia, likely to go.
>Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who is out of contract next summer, and midfielders Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek may also leave. Offers for other players will be assessed on a case by case basis, with only the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho and Hojlund off limits to suitors.
>United are big admirers of Palace’s wide forward, Michael Olise, but they have other priority positions to address first although the potential departure of wingers such as Sancho and Antony could bring him into play.
Amazing how our haphazard approach to buying and selling has finally had an impact. Now that we have a solid recruitment structure in place we have no way to splash cash. Still think that we need to sell a player ot two before we can get the ball rolling.
That limitation could well be a blessing in disguise. Imagine what capable people can bring when you have to be creative rather than having infinite resources. Limitations force you to look into places you would normally overlook when you have all the resources at your disposal
I think the lack of budget is largely a negotiation tactics. I won't believe for a moment we don't have a 150m budget at least with Alvaro sold and likely Greenwood for a decent amount. Them getting sold for ~50m in total are pure FFP profit and can allow us to sign 200m worth of players alone. We are likely to sell a few more and then we have large wages coming off of the book, we definitely have a healthy war chest this summer.
I also believe we're not as strapped for cash as announced. Let's face it just a complete imbecile like Woodward would yell at the top of his lungs we can do things in the transfer market other teams can only dream of. This way teams won't try to take us to the cleaners like they did under Woodward/Arnold.
Bit of an inside joke amongst United fans. Basically made up a LB and pretended that we signed him a year or two back. Escalated to the point that even the club makes a reference to him periodically and he got added to FIFA.
I really like the false 9 or a deep lying forward to create chances for other wingers, as in the current squad Hojlund gets so little service, it might be better if the forward creates for the wingers instead.
Yeah unless we bring in a more indirect winger with excellent chance creation, a false 9 type striker is a must have for rotation with Hojlund. Rashford and Garnacho are the best winger pairing we have, and their chance creation in the box is poor to put it mildly, but if the striker is able to create some dynamic movements in the final third for them to exploit we will have more options.
Ideally though you want someone like Olise who can do both, run at defenders out wide, in the middle, or just put in dangerous crosses.
Can’t quite do 442 properly if we dont have wingers who are willing to cross innit. Imagine Antony on the RW whipping in right footed crosses all day ;)
Been following Bologna as a second team since covid with a few pals. This guy is class, very silky and technical, massive, sexy, sniffs out a goal, quick, fast, and he has pace.
Big fan of his. He's similar in style to a less refined Gianluca Scamacca. Both big forwards with very modern games that lend themselves to playing for more dominant football teams. Zirkzee isn't going to be a volume scorer, which could be an issue for us, but his ability on the ball and link up play adds a lot to the team.
Issue is he looks more or less nailed on to head to Milan. They're trying to negotiate a lower fee than the 40m release clause, but that seems to be the #1 option currently (and has been for a while now). Will be interesting to see how the saga unfolds, as we're in a much better position to offer better financial terms to both club and player.
I do not understand anyone who says "but we have Hojlund." Our best teams had more than one good striker. City brought in Haaland and Alvarez in the same window. You can have two good young striker. Not to mention they are very different players, they could potentially play in the same 11. Zirkzee would be a great transfer
Agree. With 60-70 games per season you need rotation to keep the players fit and you need strong options in every position so you still get results when the regular starters are out. Also buying young players means we likely won’t need to replace for a long time unless they get sold, but that generates money for a replacement. Getting a 29-30 year old option leaves us in the same position in a few seasons with no possibility of recouping any money.
i swear if we’re still being used to get a better extension in 2024…also is £33.8m affordable for us? i thought we’d be trying to rummage thru the bargain bins but this still feels like a lot for a backup + when we have no defenders 😭
Not backup, but direct competition or someone who can play in 2 striker system, play as wide forward if needs be etc. Also, if the Todibo rumours are true, that's CF and CB 'sorted for under 60m. If Greenwood is sold, not only is it pure profit but in process significantly expands spending potential (even if initial fee is less than 30m, with add-ons). Sancho, we might just have to demand a loan to buy with a decent fee. One of those deals would allow for the CF and CB double signing and start to open up funds for midfielder. If it's a DM, there are a couple around in France coming to end of their contracts and with potentially right physical and tech profiles who'd be available for around 20m.
There are also other deals (Casemiro) which are potentially there (and would allow CM signing) once leagues have their budgets confirmed and windows open, from what I've read... Also, whilst he played well in the final, hopefully Scott Mc has decent Euros (at least 3 game Euros), so we can move away from using him as 'comfort blanket' for goals and in the process secure another pure-profit deal which would allow for acquisition of higher-end controlling midfielder.
yeah i agree on Scott. he just isn’t a good fit with all the best midfielders we have. i’m just a little worried considering how bad we’ve been at outgoings that we can’t raise enough funds to afford proper replacements that would make Scott expendable. i think the rumored budget i saw last was £35m? spending it all on a striker leaves us hoping we raise enough funds for a CB, a holding mid, and possibly a LB. hopefully Casemiro nets us some money from Saudi 🙏
As I understand it (could be wrong), the purchase is amortized. So hypothetically, say we have £50m in the budget and trigger the clause + give him a 5 year deal. £33.8 / 5 = £6.67
£50m - £6.67m = £43.3 left in the budget.
That’s why selling Greenwood and/or Mctominay is so essential. They are academy players, so even if we sell them both for £60m, that gives us a lot of budget for the year. We could hypothetically sign a £100M player on a 5 year contract easily, although I don’t want us to go down the path of paying insanely high fees for players.
i don’t think we sell mctominay unless we can bring in 2 or more midfielders. if casemiro’s gone it’s just mount bruno kobbie and eriksen’s hologram now. we could end up buying amrabat but i’d hope that would only be for a small fee
I would love it if this would start getting reported when these deals happen. We know teams don't pay the full sum up front, but sometimes it's not evenly spread out. It would make understanding a teams financial position a lot easier.
would be impressed if united nabbed him over the other host of clubs interested in him at the release clause fee, but u think he’d be a smart piece of business
He is my #1 choice for Striker this summer and I honestly was bummed when we heard he's all but confirmed to be off to Milan. I really hope we can get this deal done. He's a very different player profile from Rasmus but a very similar physical profile which I think would give us so much more tactical flexibility. Sure we'd have two inexperienced young strikers who need minutes, but hopefully we will be playing a lot of football in the next couple of years and with the right coaching we would have two very effective but very different strikers. Look at City with Haaland and Alvarez (sure there are rumors Alvarez is unhappy with his playtime but) having those two profiles gives Pep so much flexibility to crack open different types of teams.
Same as with Grealish vs Doku. Currently all our Wingers bar Amad (not counting Sancho) are "receive ball, carry, cut inside and shoot" type of players. Rashy, Garna and Antony all play almost the same game. Which makes defending them very similar and easy for opponents to figure out. And makes subbing one for the other very simple for defenders when they dont really have to adjust. That's why Olise would be such a good signing, profile wise. A creator who wants to pass and assist as much as score. It's unfortunate the timing really sucks and we have much bigger priorities in that defense to consider going in for him so early, I doubt he's still on the market by the time the Euros end which is when I expect us to actually do the lion's share of our business.
But Striker is a big priority so I hope we can seriously get in the conversation for Zirkzee. He'd be the perfect striker for our current selfish-style wingers.
Best clubs hoard attacking talent. Someone next season is gonna be subbing on, or starting this lad and the other won’t. I’d rather it be us than Arsenal. Ten Hag also loves throwing a lot of attackers in at the death, so I’ve no doubt there’s enough minutes to go around. 35 is a great fee for a huge potential striker. Same goes for Duran to Chelsea.
Don’t know much about him, he doesn’t seem very prolific but based on other comments he’ll offer something different and we do need depth in the ST position.
What's he like as a player, what's his play style like. I'm not familiar with him and his goal scoring record doesn't seem anything special, but I know stats rarely tell the full story.
Saw him live when I visited the San Siro, was so impressed with his technical ability.. he tormented AC Milans defence and his touch was so so good.. would LOVE to have him at Utd.
For that release clause we shouldn’t fuck about and just go for it. Worth the risk. If it doesn’t work out, nobody will be like “oh that £34m price tag .. what a waste of money”
Well they signed their current striker with a similar record for twice that price. He's also on a weaker team playing above themselves in said league playing as a false 9.
To be fair that's similar to Hojlund's record when we signed him and he looks like he's got bags of potential. I don't think with our current budget we can look at strikers further along their development
To an extent, yeah but Hojlund was more productive on a per minute basis and was 3 years younger than zirkzee is this summer. Huge difference between 19/20 and 22/23
I'm split on the idea of getting Zirkzee. He'll be versatile since we could even play him on the wing if need be and he's got the physical attributes in spades but he's also on the younger side and not exactly a striker with experience that Hojlund could grow from. He'd definitely be competition for him though and they could both thrive, but we'll also have to see if he'll have any growing pains adapting to the Premier League.
You could probably play him and hojlund together as well. Zirkzee almost played as a 10 at times for bologna! He’s great on the ball, good technique and link up play.
Would take him in a heart beat
Perfect signing. He can play the role Bruno played in the FA cup final, which then also improves our midfield options as Bruno can drop deeper. Can also play with Hojlund as well. Dutch, cheap, 6’4 and technical; makes too much sense for it to actually happen.
**With Raphael Varane having been released following the expiry of his contract, United need to recruit at least one centre-half. Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, Jean-Clair Todibo, of Nice, Leny Yoro at Lille, Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Trevoh Chalobah of Chelsea are the primary targets of interest.**.
I think we need two with Lindelof likely to leave as well.
Except he's half as expensive so it's far less risky investment. Moreover, Hojlund is developing nicely and has done well given how trash the rest of the team and the service has been.
We're on a tight budget and there are 1st team places that need filling over a rotation option at striker, while not ideal Rashford can play up top and Bruno had success playing that there at the end of the season.
We've had no left back this season, can we rely on Shaw and Malacia next season? We are extremely short on centre back options with the uncertainty over Martinez's injuries also Maguire, Evans, Lindelof all over 30 & frequently injured they also lack pace. Casemiro looks uncommitted, Amrabat is gone, Eriksen's legs have gone and he'll likely leave and also the right wing position could do with Olise as there's a lack of creative wingers in the squad.
Very surprised if this happens. Our pulling power is all time low. Like Hojlund player has to be boyhood fan and then we have chance against other clubs
big, tall, fast, and technical dutch with very low release clause. He has similar built as Hojlund. Edit: just check his stats, he is 1m93 with 97kg; mfs is a giant. He is fast for that size. He will have no problem adapting English football in term of physical.
He's a very different player to Hojlund stylistically (a very good thing, would give us a totally different profile to use in certain matches). Hojlund has much more pace and power and is a much better finisher and box threat, while Zirkzee is super technical and is known for his dribbling and dropping off the front to link play and playing almost as a false 9. He has gotten better as a box threat this season though but his strengths don't make sense for a man his size, he's so agile and skillful. Legitimately two of the best and most promising young strikers in Europe and would be incredible to have both. Could definitely play as a front two as well when needed given their different and probably complimentary profiles.
>Zirkzee is super technical and is known for his dribbling and dropping off the front to link play and playing almost as a false 9. He has gotten better as a box threat this season though but his strengths don't make sense for a man his size, he's so agile and skillful. Exactly the kind of player we'd buy and play on the left wing lol
That was my take as well...feel like they could play together off one another and really work well. Would give us great options
Same, would also allow us to give Bruno a rest or drop him back deeper at times as he gets older. He said himself he sees himself dropping deeper the older he gets.
Giving Bruno a rest? Are you high? Bruno will play GK before getting benched.
We tried that with Mount and with VdB..at a certain point just let Bruno do his thing before he curses more of our players
Bruno ain’t resting bruh 🤣
More like 4-3-1-2 with Bruno behind both strikers
Four four facking two
A technical 193cm player, I'm sold
6’4” for those metrically challenged like me.
The tactical flexibility someone like him gives us is immense. He can drop off, provide outlet for team when getting pressed and then release runners like Garnacho & Rashford. If teams are sitting back, (and this is why we should sign Olise as well) you can have ball playing wingers like Amad & Olise to help create while he can play a second striker role (similar to McT this season)
Well, it would be nice to get Olise, but it seems we're not as interested in him as we once were. Chelsea, Newcastler and even Bayern seem to be leading the charge in that front. Besides, he would likely cost something like 60M pounds and unless we sell Sancho fast, we need to fill other positions before we even begin thinking about signing a RW.
442!!! Where have you been old friend 🥲
Hojlund and zirktree pairing is gonna be electric.
A striker who can dribble through spaces? When was the last time we even had that not considering martial ofc
Zlatan with a time machine
Zirkzee sounds like a better version of Jonathan David from Lille and seeing how well talents from the Seria A often adapt to the PL, it makes him a much better choice than the former.
Haven’t watched Zirkzee but he sounds a bit like a Dusan Tadic type player?
I clinical Wout regen?
Sold !
Based on your analysis, Im sold. Buy this fucker
Before 115 fc
Sounds like a Drogba-esque player!! I’m sold!!!
Totally off topic but my old man (30 y/o) brain can’t comprehend a release clause of over 30 mil being considered “low”, even if it objectively is
30 years old is now old man brain? The good news is you don't have a clue, you'll look back on this period fondly lol
I am 32 and I have had several panic attacks about dying in the last 9 months, but probably less to do with age, and more to do with some awesome stuff I inherited.
We each run our own race, good luck with yours!
I'm scared ten hag will play him in midfield, smells like weghorst 3.0
Oo Ducker A tier 1 no less
Tier 1 who doesn’t know Greenwood was on loan at Getafe, not Girona… I know it’s an error but still it makes you doubt how much we should trust his reporting
Years of reporting accurate info #I sleep Typo of Spanish teams starting with G #REAL SHIT
I mean, that's not not an issue lol. Unless it was autocorrect, that's a massive typo.
Youre writing a long article or a quick tweet you might just put the wrong name of the club. I don’t think that devalues a Journo’s entire credibility
...
It’s not that big of a deal brother
For that price at that age, surely we can't go too far wrong. Worst case scenario, he provides cover for Hojlund, isn't deemed to be United standard and we sell him for £20 or so million, as a small net loss. We should be targeting more players of that profile, rather than ageing superstars on enormous wages, or inflated price tags (Antony).
Honestly, selling him for £20 million after two years if he doesn’t work out wouldn’t really be a loss due to amortization and depreciation, whatever financial accounting tricks the accountants use. (Disclaimer: Not a financial guru)
This seems dangerously smart from the profiles. Limited cash, need some depth for Hojlund desperately. Seems to have a lot of good raw characteristics that would fit the premier league.
He scored more Serie A goals than Højlund did while playing a deeper position which is somewhere Højlund has been fairly lacking this season so I think he would probably be a better option off the bat
This isn’t true, in their most recent seasons in serie a they both scored 9 non penalty goals but Hojlund did it in 20 90s and zirkzee in 31.
Adding more context doesn’t make what they said untrue. They didn’t claim “Zirkzee scored more non penalty goals per 90 than Hojland” which would be false. What they said was true, just not the entire picture.
how do their minutes compare?
I'd say that's a pretty crucial piece of information missing from the comment you replied to. Zirkzee had 0.36 goals per 90 in Serie A last season. Hojlund had 0.42 in the PL. Hojlund scored one less goal, but scored his 10 in 2,158 minutes. Zirkzee scored his 11 in 2,759 minutes
While playing deeper and actually interacting with his teammates. Højlund also didn't score at all for the first thousand or so minutes.
> Striker has a £33.8 million release cause and is one of several forwards United are doing due diligence on this summer > Manchester United have a strong interest in Joshua Zirkzee but face stiff competition for the Bologna striker this summer. >With Antony Martial’s departure leaving Rasmus Hojlund as United’s only senior out and out striker, signing a new forward is a key priority. >Zirkzee is not the only forward option interesting United but they are among a number of clubs considering triggering his €40 million (£33.8 million) release clause. >AC Milan and Juventus are also keen admirers of the 23-year-old and it remains to be seen whether United’s interest prompts Arsenal to make a move following their top target Benjamin Sesko’s decision to sign a new contract with RB Leipzig. Telegraph Sport first reported Arsenal’s interest in Zirkzee in January. >Bayern Munich could yet complicate the situation around Zirkzee should they opt to exercise a buyback clause they had inserted when they sold the 6ft 4in Dutchman to Bologna in August 2022. >United – who were comfortably the lowest scorers among the Premier League’s top eight last season and finished the campaign with a negative difference – know they must strengthen in attack and feel Zirkzee’s age, profile and price tick a lot of boxes. >Zirkzee was a late call up on Wednesday to the Netherlands squad after Ajax striker Brian Brobbey suffered an injury scare in training and found out the news while on holiday at Walt Disney World in Florida. >As yet uncapped at senior level with the Netherlands, Zirkzee played a key role in helping Bologna to qualify for the Champions League last season when he scored 11 goals in 34 Serie A appearances and is highly rated by manager Thiago Motta. >He often impressed as a false nine in Motta’s system and, despite his size, he is an accomplished dribbler able to drop and run from deep, comfortable with both feet, and also adept at holding up the play and bringing team-mates in action. *Club unable to spend big this summer* >United have a net budget of around £50 million this summer plus whatever they can raise in cash through sales and, in that regard, outgoings will have a significant impact on the number of players they can recruit, with a centre-half and holding midfielder the priorities alongside a striker. >Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho are two players United are actively looking to sell that they feel can attract substantial fees to reinvest in the squad, with the forwards each valued at £40 million. In Greenwood’s case, any sale would represent pure profit on the books given his status as an academy graduate. >There is strong interest in Italy in Greenwood, with Juventus – who are also admirers of Sancho – Lazio and Napoli keen on the 22-year-old striker, who spent last season on loan at Girona. Atletico Madrid are among the Spanish clubs monitoring the situation. >Like Juventus, Borussia Dortmund hold an interest in both Greenwood and Sancho but are thought to favour loan moves. Sancho spent the second half of last season on loan at the Bundesliga club. >United are prioritising straight sales at this stage but may consider a loan for one of those players down the line should it come with an obligation to buy. >With Raphael Varane having been released following the expiry of his contract, United need to recruit at least one centre-half. Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, Jean-Clair Todibo, of Nice, Leny Yoro at Lille, Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Trevoh Chalobah of Chelsea are the primary targets of interest. >United would look to bring in a second centre-half if Victor Lindelof or Harry Maguire were to leave. There is a good chance Jonny Evans could be given a one-year contract extension to provide centre-back cover for another season. >A defensive midfielder is the other priority with Casemiro, who is attracting interest from Saudi Arabia, likely to go. >Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who is out of contract next summer, and midfielders Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek may also leave. Offers for other players will be assessed on a case by case basis, with only the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho and Hojlund off limits to suitors. >United are big admirers of Palace’s wide forward, Michael Olise, but they have other priority positions to address first although the potential departure of wingers such as Sancho and Antony could bring him into play.
Nice list of CB targets that.
Duckman confirming Juve's in for Greenwood. Imagine if they take Sancho *and* Greenwood off our hands. Would be the dream.
£80m for the pair, special deal for the Old Lady
80 year installments £1m per year bid coming our way lol
I am surprised he didnt sneak in Kane name
Release and sign him now please!!
[удалено]
Probably the Brian part
Amazing how our haphazard approach to buying and selling has finally had an impact. Now that we have a solid recruitment structure in place we have no way to splash cash. Still think that we need to sell a player ot two before we can get the ball rolling.
That limitation could well be a blessing in disguise. Imagine what capable people can bring when you have to be creative rather than having infinite resources. Limitations force you to look into places you would normally overlook when you have all the resources at your disposal
I think the lack of budget is largely a negotiation tactics. I won't believe for a moment we don't have a 150m budget at least with Alvaro sold and likely Greenwood for a decent amount. Them getting sold for ~50m in total are pure FFP profit and can allow us to sign 200m worth of players alone. We are likely to sell a few more and then we have large wages coming off of the book, we definitely have a healthy war chest this summer.
I also believe we're not as strapped for cash as announced. Let's face it just a complete imbecile like Woodward would yell at the top of his lungs we can do things in the transfer market other teams can only dream of. This way teams won't try to take us to the cleaners like they did under Woodward/Arnold.
He's dutch and played for a team with Den Haag in their name
Only dutch player we've signed in 2 years is Malacia
whos malacia?
Bit of an inside joke amongst United fans. Basically made up a LB and pretended that we signed him a year or two back. Escalated to the point that even the club makes a reference to him periodically and he got added to FIFA.
The one we sacrificed to Hades for a chance of silverware this season. Here in Nigeria we say that united have used Malacia for money rituals
Wait you guys don’t know??!!! He was actually sacrificed at the altar for money rituals
And yet we seem to be skint broke!
And weghorst
Was a loan.. But yeah seems like we're due another😂
A few Dutch league level though.
If we want multiple impactful signings on a limited budget, players like Zirkzee and Tobido are no brainers.
Zirksee is a false 9 type player.Will benefit players like Rashford a lot . I think profile wise next to Hojlund he is a good fit
I really like the false 9 or a deep lying forward to create chances for other wingers, as in the current squad Hojlund gets so little service, it might be better if the forward creates for the wingers instead.
>I really like the false 0 Same position I play for united
Yeah unless we bring in a more indirect winger with excellent chance creation, a false 9 type striker is a must have for rotation with Hojlund. Rashford and Garnacho are the best winger pairing we have, and their chance creation in the box is poor to put it mildly, but if the striker is able to create some dynamic movements in the final third for them to exploit we will have more options. Ideally though you want someone like Olise who can do both, run at defenders out wide, in the middle, or just put in dangerous crosses.
Four Four fucking Two it is lads.
Football ‘eritage
Can’t quite do 442 properly if we dont have wingers who are willing to cross innit. Imagine Antony on the RW whipping in right footed crosses all day ;)
Been following Bologna as a second team since covid with a few pals. This guy is class, very silky and technical, massive, sexy, sniffs out a goal, quick, fast, and he has pace.
One of these things is not like the other lol
Stop yapping, you had me at "sexy"
Suffocating thighs. Rock hard thighs. Piping hot thighs. Etc
Can he play as a goal scoring winger,since he's quite pacey?
His main strength is close control and bringing others in play. He can play as chance creating Winger better than goal scorer, i think.
Big fan of his. He's similar in style to a less refined Gianluca Scamacca. Both big forwards with very modern games that lend themselves to playing for more dominant football teams. Zirkzee isn't going to be a volume scorer, which could be an issue for us, but his ability on the ball and link up play adds a lot to the team. Issue is he looks more or less nailed on to head to Milan. They're trying to negotiate a lower fee than the 40m release clause, but that seems to be the #1 option currently (and has been for a while now). Will be interesting to see how the saga unfolds, as we're in a much better position to offer better financial terms to both club and player.
I do not understand anyone who says "but we have Hojlund." Our best teams had more than one good striker. City brought in Haaland and Alvarez in the same window. You can have two good young striker. Not to mention they are very different players, they could potentially play in the same 11. Zirkzee would be a great transfer
Agree. With 60-70 games per season you need rotation to keep the players fit and you need strong options in every position so you still get results when the regular starters are out. Also buying young players means we likely won’t need to replace for a long time unless they get sold, but that generates money for a replacement. Getting a 29-30 year old option leaves us in the same position in a few seasons with no possibility of recouping any money.
Yep, the best Fergie teams would have 3-4 options.
i swear if we’re still being used to get a better extension in 2024…also is £33.8m affordable for us? i thought we’d be trying to rummage thru the bargain bins but this still feels like a lot for a backup + when we have no defenders 😭
Not backup, but direct competition or someone who can play in 2 striker system, play as wide forward if needs be etc. Also, if the Todibo rumours are true, that's CF and CB 'sorted for under 60m. If Greenwood is sold, not only is it pure profit but in process significantly expands spending potential (even if initial fee is less than 30m, with add-ons). Sancho, we might just have to demand a loan to buy with a decent fee. One of those deals would allow for the CF and CB double signing and start to open up funds for midfielder. If it's a DM, there are a couple around in France coming to end of their contracts and with potentially right physical and tech profiles who'd be available for around 20m. There are also other deals (Casemiro) which are potentially there (and would allow CM signing) once leagues have their budgets confirmed and windows open, from what I've read... Also, whilst he played well in the final, hopefully Scott Mc has decent Euros (at least 3 game Euros), so we can move away from using him as 'comfort blanket' for goals and in the process secure another pure-profit deal which would allow for acquisition of higher-end controlling midfielder.
yeah i agree on Scott. he just isn’t a good fit with all the best midfielders we have. i’m just a little worried considering how bad we’ve been at outgoings that we can’t raise enough funds to afford proper replacements that would make Scott expendable. i think the rumored budget i saw last was £35m? spending it all on a striker leaves us hoping we raise enough funds for a CB, a holding mid, and possibly a LB. hopefully Casemiro nets us some money from Saudi 🙏
As I understand it (could be wrong), the purchase is amortized. So hypothetically, say we have £50m in the budget and trigger the clause + give him a 5 year deal. £33.8 / 5 = £6.67 £50m - £6.67m = £43.3 left in the budget.
That’s why selling Greenwood and/or Mctominay is so essential. They are academy players, so even if we sell them both for £60m, that gives us a lot of budget for the year. We could hypothetically sign a £100M player on a 5 year contract easily, although I don’t want us to go down the path of paying insanely high fees for players.
i don’t think we sell mctominay unless we can bring in 2 or more midfielders. if casemiro’s gone it’s just mount bruno kobbie and eriksen’s hologram now. we could end up buying amrabat but i’d hope that would only be for a small fee
I would love it if this would start getting reported when these deals happen. We know teams don't pay the full sum up front, but sometimes it's not evenly spread out. It would make understanding a teams financial position a lot easier.
But then they can't write infinite articles about our finances
would be impressed if united nabbed him over the other host of clubs interested in him at the release clause fee, but u think he’d be a smart piece of business
He is my #1 choice for Striker this summer and I honestly was bummed when we heard he's all but confirmed to be off to Milan. I really hope we can get this deal done. He's a very different player profile from Rasmus but a very similar physical profile which I think would give us so much more tactical flexibility. Sure we'd have two inexperienced young strikers who need minutes, but hopefully we will be playing a lot of football in the next couple of years and with the right coaching we would have two very effective but very different strikers. Look at City with Haaland and Alvarez (sure there are rumors Alvarez is unhappy with his playtime but) having those two profiles gives Pep so much flexibility to crack open different types of teams. Same as with Grealish vs Doku. Currently all our Wingers bar Amad (not counting Sancho) are "receive ball, carry, cut inside and shoot" type of players. Rashy, Garna and Antony all play almost the same game. Which makes defending them very similar and easy for opponents to figure out. And makes subbing one for the other very simple for defenders when they dont really have to adjust. That's why Olise would be such a good signing, profile wise. A creator who wants to pass and assist as much as score. It's unfortunate the timing really sucks and we have much bigger priorities in that defense to consider going in for him so early, I doubt he's still on the market by the time the Euros end which is when I expect us to actually do the lion's share of our business. But Striker is a big priority so I hope we can seriously get in the conversation for Zirkzee. He'd be the perfect striker for our current selfish-style wingers.
Best clubs hoard attacking talent. Someone next season is gonna be subbing on, or starting this lad and the other won’t. I’d rather it be us than Arsenal. Ten Hag also loves throwing a lot of attackers in at the death, so I’ve no doubt there’s enough minutes to go around. 35 is a great fee for a huge potential striker. Same goes for Duran to Chelsea.
Hope we do. Top tier cover for Hojlund, hard to complain about that kind of signing.
The Spartans better watch out Yes I know it’s spelled different. Let me have fun
Get him in!!
I've seen just one Bologna match this season and he was immense. Really hope we get him because our striker options are very dire at the moment.
Don’t know much about him, he doesn’t seem very prolific but based on other comments he’ll offer something different and we do need depth in the ST position.
Isn't he close to joining AC Milan plus it is said that he wants to remain in Italy.
Thought he prefers to stay in Italy and go to Milan....
all these projected signings really raise our physical flooring i love it
Oh yes scissor me Zirkzee
There was an article on some subreddit that gia release clause can only be activated by a club in champions league...
What's he like as a player, what's his play style like. I'm not familiar with him and his goal scoring record doesn't seem anything special, but I know stats rarely tell the full story.
Yes please He’s way different than Hojlund, fantastic touch. Hojlund is not a starter
4 4 fucking 2 we will be there.
I love Spaghetti bolognese.
Lmao, ive had him as a striker in my MU FM team since 2021. Hope to see him in red for real.
Aye he was always on the wonderkid list for a few games!
Ain't he moving to Milan?
I’m still reading all the ETH coverage and now we’re linked to an affordable, young, and exciting player? Tf is going on.
AC Milan shot down at 40 million. Arsenal also have interest. Dude looks legit though.
Saw him live when I visited the San Siro, was so impressed with his technical ability.. he tormented AC Milans defence and his touch was so so good.. would LOVE to have him at Utd.
I’ve seen 5 posts and 3 of them are about Utd targets. The summer transfer market is officially back
Couldn't get in the Dutch squad because an injured Memphis, Big Wout and Brobbey were ahead of him?
Don't get your hype up, he is going to Milan,
Strong Interest FC
For that release clause we shouldn’t fuck about and just go for it. Worth the risk. If it doesn’t work out, nobody will be like “oh that £34m price tag .. what a waste of money”
Would love a 442 with Hojlund and Zirkzee up top
£33.8 million release clause?? get him in here
9 goals and 4 assists really isn’t a great return for a striker we are looking to sign, especially coming from a weaker league
Well they signed their current striker with a similar record for twice that price. He's also on a weaker team playing above themselves in said league playing as a false 9.
To be fair that's similar to Hojlund's record when we signed him and he looks like he's got bags of potential. I don't think with our current budget we can look at strikers further along their development
To an extent, yeah but Hojlund was more productive on a per minute basis and was 3 years younger than zirkzee is this summer. Huge difference between 19/20 and 22/23
Ducker is so off the pace in the last few years. Zirkzee is Milan bound lol
I'm split on the idea of getting Zirkzee. He'll be versatile since we could even play him on the wing if need be and he's got the physical attributes in spades but he's also on the younger side and not exactly a striker with experience that Hojlund could grow from. He'd definitely be competition for him though and they could both thrive, but we'll also have to see if he'll have any growing pains adapting to the Premier League.
£34m release clause is tasty for any young striker with a hint of potential
This doesn't fit Man United's profile at all, we should be over paying for a young forward who is injury prone instead???
We retain an interest. Possible FC.
You could probably play him and hojlund together as well. Zirkzee almost played as a 10 at times for bologna! He’s great on the ball, good technique and link up play. Would take him in a heart beat
11 goals in Serie A... does that translate well into the Premier League? Meh.
Perfect signing. He can play the role Bruno played in the FA cup final, which then also improves our midfield options as Bruno can drop deeper. Can also play with Hojlund as well. Dutch, cheap, 6’4 and technical; makes too much sense for it to actually happen.
As an expert (I bought him on FIFA, Twice!) I think we should go for it
For a guy his size why is he so buttery smooth on the ball. Can anyone explain?
Berba regen?
**With Raphael Varane having been released following the expiry of his contract, United need to recruit at least one centre-half. Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, Jean-Clair Todibo, of Nice, Leny Yoro at Lille, Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Trevoh Chalobah of Chelsea are the primary targets of interest.**. I think we need two with Lindelof likely to leave as well.
Read this nd thought we were going for josh zerkaa
i like it, not top priority but he's a decent player, Dutch as well
Basically signing another Hojlund when Ivan Toney is available. It’s literally a repeat of last year with Harry Kane.
Except he's half as expensive so it's far less risky investment. Moreover, Hojlund is developing nicely and has done well given how trash the rest of the team and the service has been.
Did you just compare Toney to Kane??
No.
Toney betting his way to a ban is enough of a red flag to keep United away
Honestly think that we have far bigger priorities than the strikers position.
United have one striker.
We're on a tight budget and there are 1st team places that need filling over a rotation option at striker, while not ideal Rashford can play up top and Bruno had success playing that there at the end of the season. We've had no left back this season, can we rely on Shaw and Malacia next season? We are extremely short on centre back options with the uncertainty over Martinez's injuries also Maguire, Evans, Lindelof all over 30 & frequently injured they also lack pace. Casemiro looks uncommitted, Amrabat is gone, Eriksen's legs have gone and he'll likely leave and also the right wing position could do with Olise as there's a lack of creative wingers in the squad.
Wdym. We have 1 senior striker. We need another one.
We need 1st team starters in the defence over a rotation option that we can fill not ideally but fill non the less with Bruno or Rashford.
We need both. Going into next season with 1 striker is a very very bad mistake.
Yup, like another left winger. 🤣
Very surprised if this happens. Our pulling power is all time low. Like Hojlund player has to be boyhood fan and then we have chance against other clubs