Joshua Zirkzee has established himself as one of the top strikers in Serie A this season – and is now being linked with big clubs. However, there is no way around FC Bayern
Joshua Zirkzee once matured into a professional at FC Bayern, winning the Champions League, the league twice and the DFB Cup. However, the Dutchman did not contribute too much to these successes himself, making just 17 appearances and scoring four goals for Munich between 2018 and 2021. Zirkzee left Säbener Straße in January 2021 to gain match practice elsewhere. First Parma and then Anderlecht, before he was sold to FC Bologna for around eight million euros in the summer of 2022.
The striker then really blossomed there, establishing himself in the starting eleven in his first year and improving once again this season. The 22-year-old has currently scored eleven goals in Serie A, making him one of the top 10 most successful goalscorers in the league. Unsurprisingly, this is arousing desire
As the Gazzetta dello Sport reports, AC Milan and Juventus are courting the striker, while FC Arsenal, who are known to be on the lookout for a nine-man, are also rumored to be in the running, as are Inter Milan and SSC Napoli. A transfer fee of 50 million euros is being discussed
Juve and Milan have a need
Juve are looking for a partner for Dusan Vlahovic, but it is not known what Massimiliano Allegri thinks of the striker. The 56-year-old has also been criticized in Turin for his defensive style of play, so it is not clear whether he will continue to coach Juve in the coming season. Thiago Motta, the current coach of Zirkzee in Bologna, is also considered a possible candidate to replace Allegri.
Milan, on the other hand, are looking for a replacement for Olivier Giroud, the 37-year-old is said to want to spend the fall of his career in the MLS. At San Siro, Zirkzee would therefore have the advantage of being able to count on many minutes of action due to the reduced competition
Why so expensive?
However. It seems that Zirkzee could definitely be a costly affair. Why? Not only because he has a contract until 2026, but also because there is only one player in the top five leagues aged 22 or younger who has scored more goals than the Dutchman. That is Hoffenheim’s Maximilian Beier (21 years, 13 goals). Goncalo Ramos of PSG (22), Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz (20) and Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko (20) are currently on eleven goals like Zirkzee.
Bayern has a say
However, FC Bayern definitely have a say in the matter, as they have a right of first refusal for the Dutchman. When Zirkzee was sold to Bologna, the then Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic confirmed that “the agreements would include an option to bring him back” and announced that Zirkzee’s “further development in Bologna would be monitored”.
And that is exactly what they did, with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge explicitly praising the striker in March, but also pointing out that squad planning was the responsibility of sporting director Max Eberl.
