Manchester United have agreed a fee of about €42m (£35.3m) for Bologna’s Joshua Zirkzee, with the forward set to become the first signing of the INEOS (Sir Jim Ratcliffe) era. The player’s terms and his agent’s fee are agreed.
The Netherlands centre-forward flew into the UK on Thursday night ahead of a busy day consisting of medical examinations and a face-to-face meeting with the United manager Erik ten Hag on Friday. That was according to transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano, who has covered the story closely since the beginning of the summer.
The reporter added that Zirkzee will sign a contract until June 2029 with an option for a further season.
Ten Hag wants Zirkzee to offer competition to Rasmus Højlund at centre-forward. Zirkzee is 6ft 3in, began his professional career at Bayern Munich and played 17 times for them in three seasons, during which he was loaned to Parma and Anderlecht, before moving to Bologna in August 2022.
Zirkzee made his Netherlands debut in Saturday’s 2-1 Euro 2024 quarter-final win over Turkey as an 87th-minute substitute, and was an 89th-minute replacement in Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to England in the semi-final.
Meanwhile, Matthijs de Ligt is another Dutch player being strongly linked with a move to United. Talks are advancing between Bayern Munich and United, but it is understood that personal terms have been agreed with the player.
The 24-year-old defender has spent two seasons at Bayern since signing from Juventus, playing 73 matches and scoring five goals. De Ligt played under Ten Hag at Ajax.
