Manchester United have held ‘concrete talks’ with the agent of Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee as the club look to sign a forward this summer.
Zirkzee impressed as Bologna achieved a fifth-placed finish in Serie A last season to secure Champions League qualification and his performances have attracted interest from top clubs across Europe.
AC Milan had hoped to agree a deal for the 23-year-old, who scored 11 league goals and led all Serie A forwards for successful take-ons in 2023-24, and have informed Bologna of their intent to activate Zirkzee’s €40m (£33.7m) release clause.
However, Sky Germany are reporting that Manchester United have opened concrete talks with Zirkzee’s agent, Kia Joorabchian, in an attempt to ‘hijack’ that deal as Erik ten Hag looks to bring in competition for Rasmus Hojlund at centre-forward.
Zirkzee came through the ranks at Bayern Munich before joining Bologna in 2022 and has since scored 14 goals in 58 appearances.
He was named as Serie A’s Best Young Player for the 2023-24 campaign after helping Bologna to an unexpected Champions League qualification and earned a late call-up to the Netherlands squad for Euro 2024, following the withdrawals of Frenkie de Jong and Teun Koopmeiners through injury.
