Juventus have made direct contact with Joshua Zirkee’s agent and have thrown another name into the ring in their pursuit of a swap deal for the Manchester United forward, according to reports in Italy.
The Serie A giants are seemingly intent on bringing the Dutchman to Turin, but with no transfer budget to draw on in January they are resorting to offering players in exchange.
Calciomercato reiterate the possibility of former Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz being put forward as a potential makeweight, but report that Brazilian defender Danilo is also a contender.
This news comes as La Gazzetta dello Sport report that Juve sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli spoke to Zirkzee’s agent Kia Joorabchian on his recent trip to Manchester.
Joorabchian also represents Douglas Luiz, and given that Giuntoli was in the city to discuss the possibility of Luiz and Nicolo Fagioli moving to Manchester City, or indeed United, it would have been a bizarre move not to speak to him.
But the report is clear that there was a Zirkzee angle to the conversations, as it is Juve manager Thiago Motta’s “big dream” to reunite with the player he managed last season at Bologna.
It adds that Juve are hoping that Zirkzee’s struggles so far at Old Trafford open the door to a loan move: “It will not be easy, but Giuntoli is counting on the good relationship with Kia and the player’s desire to embrace Motta again.”
Calciomercato agree that the aim is a loan move and are definitive in their claims about the club’s January budget, saying it it is “anything but large and, in fact, is close to zero.”
To get around this, the Old Lady are planning to use outgoings to facilitate incomings, and Danilo is the latest name touted.
United have already been linked with signing the former City defender on a free transfer in the summer, so it’s unlikely that they would bring the signing forward.
Calciomercato report that his contract expires in June 2025 and has an option to renew that could be automatic, “but the parties are already discussing how to avoid this possibility.”
They note that several Brazilian clubs are interested in him and add, somewhat hopefully, that “negotiations could be started” with United to “bring Joshua Zirkzee on loan to Turin.”
Douglas Luiz, meanwhile, has failed to settle in Serie A but is tied into a long-term contract which makes a permanent transfer this winter “a utopia”.
“Between him and Juventus, but also between him and the city of Turin, the right spark has not struck,” say Calciomercato, adding that just the saving of his wages would be a huge advantage for the club.
Feature image Srdjan Stevanovic via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
