Tottenham set to miss out on Manchester United-bound Joshua Zirkzee
According to renowned Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Tottenham are set to miss out on 22-year-old striker Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna with Manchester United agreeing terms to sign the player.
The Dutch youngster was sensational for the Serie A side last season. Under Thiago Motta, Bologna played some of the best football in the league and Zirkee was instrumental to the team’s success. In fact, his coach regarded him as a ‘special’ player.
Understandably, he got called up by Ronald Koeman to the Euros 2024 with the Oranje army but was only afforded minutes off the bench in a couple of matches. One of those was a hail mary attempt by the Dutch manager in the Euros semifinals against England where the Three Lions scored in the last minute of normal time.
The right-footed striker who was once on Bayern Munich’s books which was a disastrous spell in every sense managed to carve a niche for himself in the Serie A. In 37 games across all competitions last season, Zirkzee scored 12 goals and provided seven assists.
Fabrizio Romano has revealed that the 23-year-old will sign a deal until 2029 with the Manchester-based club with the option to extend the contract until 2020. The Red Devils have decided to pay slightly over his release clause of €40m to get favourable payment terms.
Zirkzee is not your traditional number nine who likes playing with his back to goal. Instead, he is someone who enjoys dropping deeper to link up play and contribute with assists and not just score goals, as evidenced by his numbers last year.
Tottenham Hotspur are yet to replace Harry Kane since the club legend left for Bayern Munich last season. The English captain was one of the best strikers to every play in the league and Spurs need to find someone who can do a similar job.
Going into another season without a natural number nine might be catastrophic. Whilst Zirkzee would have fit the playstyle Ange Postecoglou coaches at the N17, we have missed out on him and need to focus on other targets.
More Tottenham Hotspur News:
- Serie A club do not want to spend more than €17m to sign Tottenham Hotspur defender
- Tottenham talks with Serie A club collapse as clubs fail to agree cut-price deal
- Tottenham Hotspur make contact to sign £50 million Ligue 1 talent this summer
Surely, Tottenham will be having priority targets for the number nine role this summer. Zirkzee never seemed to be top of the list and missing out on him to Man Utd isn’t likely to throw a spanner in our works. Let’s wait and see who we approach to be our new #9.
