AC Milan has been working for months on acquiring Joshua Zirkzee, the 23-year-old talented striker of Bologna. The former Bayern Munich player is, as known, the primary transfer target for the Rossoneri to replace Olivier Giroud, who has moved on a free transfer to Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer.
However, the news from this morning's edition of 'Corriere di Bologna' isn't very positive for the Milan club. It appears that Manchester United has surged ahead in the race to sign the number 9 of the Rossoblu. The Red Devils, like Milan, are ready to activate the 40 million euros release clause in Zirkzee's contract.
But why are the English side ahead of Milan in the transfer battle for Zirkzee? Simply because they are close to an agreement on the commission payments demanded by the striker's agent, Kia Joorabchian. In contrast, Milan has never been willing to pay the 15 million euros requested by the agent to finalise the deal.
Therefore, Manchester United is leading the race for Zirkzee, although negotiations are far from over. 'Corriere di Bologna', in fact, also pointed out that the English club still needs to convince the player, who would prefer to continue playing in Serie A in the short term. The English team's manager, Erik ten Hag, who is also Dutch like Zirkzee, will soon have someone on his staff who could change the current situation.
We are talking about Ruud van Nistelrooij, also Dutch and a former great striker for the Dutch national team and Manchester United, is set to join Manchester United's technical staff. Who better than him to convince Zirkzee of the value of the Manchester Reds' project? The English club is also pressing Bologna for Swiss winger Dan Ndoye.
