Manchester United are accelerating summer transfer plans with two signings now seemingly moving ever closer to completion.
Erik ten Hag’s future has now been settled with Ineos deciding to keep the Dutchman in the Old Trafford hot seat.
Ten Hag must improve on last season’s eighth-placed finish though and new signings will be paramount to any hopes of Champions League qualification.
Another striker is a must; Rasmus Hojlund needs more support in attack.
Anthony Martial missed the second half of the season and his absence left the Dane exposed whilst leading the line.
Martial has now moved on and United simply have to bring in another striker who can provide competition for Hojlund.
Manchester United close in on Joshua Zirkzee
United could have gone down the route of signing an experienced striker to help Hojlund and help him learn his craft.
Instead, United are going down a similar route to the Hojlund signing; a talented young striker who needs some development but has shown promise in Serie A.
The man in question this time is Joshua Zirkzee, with the Bologna striker potentially following in Hojlund’s footsteps following his move from Atalanta last year.
Zirkzee scored 11 times in Serie A this past season, helping Bologna qualify for the Champions League.
The Dutchman has a £34million release clause in his contract and United are now ready to pay that fee according to Fabrizio Romano.
Romano has stated on YouTube that United are ‘getting everything ready’ to finalise the signing of Zirkzee with a deal now ‘one step away’.
Romano notes that United have an agreement with Zirkzee and his agent, something AC Milan weren’t able to do, and United are going ‘very fast’ in an attempt to Zirkzee’s signature wrapped up.
“Manchester United are getting everything ready to make the deal work and now we can say that Joshua Zirkzee is really one step away from becoming a new Manchester United player,” said Romano. “It’s expected to happen, it’s expected to take place in the next days because Manchester United have an agreement with Joshua Zirkzee; contract length, salary, all the details of the contract, so they have the green light of the player.”
“For Zirkzee, there is also the agreement of the commission for the agent of the player, Kia Joorabchian, who has an excellent relationship with the Manchester United board, so they agreed on terms with the player side, now Manchester United are prepared to inform Bologna about their intention to pay the €40million and then Joshua Zirkzee will become a new Manchester United in the next days, but Manchester United are going very quick, very fast on this deal for Joshua Zirkzee. We know that Milan agreed on terms with Zirkzee one month ago but the problem has always been the commission for the agent of the player. Milan decided not to pay that money and now, Joshua Zirkzee is on the verge of becoming a new Manchester United player,” he added.
Manchester United chasing more signings
Zirkzee could be the first summer signing for United, but others are in the pipeline.
United are understood to be ‘confident’ of signing Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt.
The Dutchman is out of favour at Bayern and he looks set to reunite with his former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.
United also want to bolster Ten Hag’s midfield ranks amid lingering doubts over Casemiro’s future.
Reports suggest that PSG boss Luis Enrique is ready to sell Manuel Ugarte to United after holding two rounds of talks over a deal.
De Ligt, Ugarte and Zirkzee seem to be the most likely signings for United but all are currently on international duty.
United may need to remain patient over the coming week but there seems to be a real chance for all three to arrive soon enough.