Fabrizio Romano has made it clear that Manchester United are willing to let Joshua Zirkzee depart Old Trafford under one condition.
Joshua Zirkzee’s time at Manchester United has been nothing short of a failure; the Dutch striker never managed to adapt to life in England and found the transition from the Serie A to the Premier League to be too much of a challenge physically and technically.
Ever since the signing of Benjamin Sesko, it has been clear that Ruben Amorim has not seen Zirkzee as part of his long term plans, due to the players having such similar attributes on paper.
A move back to Italy seems most likely, as it is the country where the 24-year-old found most of his success, specifically at Bologna. However, this time around, AS Roma have come knocking for the Dutchman, and it is a move that is apparently very appealing to the forward.
I Giallorossi currently sit fourth in Serie A and look very likely to reach the round of 16 in the Europa League. Zirkzee would likely become the side’s main attacker after Evan Ferguson had not made the desired impact on his loan move from Brighton.
The transfer looks destined to happen under one condition, which Fabrizio Roman reports is a deciding factor in whether United lets Zirkzee leave.
United must find a replacement before Zirkzee departs
According to Fabrizio Romano, speaking on his YouTube channel, he has confirmed the deal will be a ‘loan with an obligation to buy’ and that Joshua Zirkzee is ‘keen’ on a move back to Italy, as he will become a regular starter at Roma.
However, Romano went on to add, “Manchester United will only approve the transfer if they can find a replacement, and they have started exploring the market again after they failed to reach an agreement with Antoine Semenyo,
They are back in the market for an attacking player, so Joshua Zirkzee can leave the club and move to Roma.”
Fabrizio told fans to: “Keep an eye on Manchester United because they could add something to the squad upfront in this January transfer window. We know they are interested in the midfield, but keep an eye out for that topic regarding Joshua Zirkzee.”
Fans will be keen for Manchester United to bring in reinforcements, especially with Zirkzee’s departure looking likely, as a player at United who will struggle to be remembered within the fanbase over the coming seasons.
Do Manchester United need to replace Zirkzee
During the summer, United brought in plenty of attacking reinforcements in the form of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbuembo and Benjamin Sesko. This attracted a fair amount of criticism from certain parts of the fanbase as it seemed that Amorim and INEOS had neglected other key areas of the pitch.
The midfield, especially, was an area that needed obvious reinforcement but failed to be upgraded during the summer. This calls into question whether a replacement for Joshua Zirkzee is even necessary and whether the funds generated can be spent elsewhere.
Read More: Rúben Amorim drops major system change hint after AFCON with ‘the end for the manager’ Man Utd claim
Zirkzee plays a similar role to that of Cunha and Mason Mount, as he is not an out-and-out striker and prefers to call himself a 9.5 when he is on the pitch. A role that has plenty of depth, even with AFCON currently underway.
Bringing in another player similar to Zirkzee could see them shifted to the bench and wasting vital funds that could have been spent bringing in a higher standard of player in an area of the pitch that needs it desperately, such as a full-back or central midfielder.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 14:00 pm (GMT) on the United View YouTube channel.