Joshua Zirkzee Exclusive: Arsenal, Man Utd reeling as full details of mega move revealed

TEAMtalk has been given an update on the future of highly-rated Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee as a Euro heavyweight edges closer to a move for the Manchester United and Arsenal attacking target.

In recent days, AC Milan have made decisive steps to beat Arsenal in the race for Zirkzee and, to date, the only thing that is still missing to finalize the accord with the Dutch player is the agreement on commissions with his agent Kia Joorabchian.

The €40million release clause is considered by every club interested in Joshua an affordable price for a talent like him and doesn’t represent a problem for Milan – who have already communicated their intention to trigger it starting from 1 July.

Fair price, but high commissions: not for nothing, the real obstacle in the negotiation – particularly for Milan – is the agent’s request for over €15m, as a fee for transferring his player.

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The Bologna striker is undoubtedly among the players who are attracting the most attention in Europe, given the fantastic season just ended, with 12 goals and 7 assists between Serie A and the Italian Cup.

In the Premier League, Arsenal and United  have shown the greatest interest in him, in Italy – as told – Milan have been in contact with his entourage for months, while in recent days Bayern Munich also seems to be back in the race given that Vincent Kompany has asked the German club to evaluate Joshua’s profile as a possible second striker to play alongside Harry Kane.

Anyway, the departure from Bologna is an inevitable fate for Zirzkee, especially after the farewell of Thiago Motta.

Zirkzee favours Milan switch 

The Dutch striker – disappointed not to be called up for Euro 2024 – still wants to play in the Champions League next season and, for this reason, United’s candidacy is now distant. Furthermore, in these last few weeks, Joshua’s preference seems to be to stay in Serie A and so Milan become – day after day – the favorite to sign him.

The Rossoneri, for their part, are doing their best: after many months of contact – Milan agreed in principle terms of the contract, with a five-year agreement with a salary set at €4.5/5m verbally accepted by the Dutch player.

There are no issues between the clubs, as Milan decided to trigger the release clause included in the contract with Bologna.

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What is missing, as mentioned, is the agreement on agent commissions: the Rossoneri don’t want to exceed €8/10m, while the request of around €15m from Kia Joorabchian is still valid to date.

Milan are constantly talking with Zirzkee’s entourage because they want to finalize everything as soon as possible: a dense round of meetings is already scheduled to reduce the distances and anticipate the competition of Arsenal and Bayern, always in the race.