Despite being heavily linked with a January move away from Manchester United, a report claims that Joshua Zirkzee in fact “has no interest” in leaving.
The Dutch striker only arrived in the summer, but more column inches have been devoted to his potential departure rather than his on-pitch performances.
Since coming off the bench to score the winner on a dream debut against Fulham, the 23-year-old has struggled for form in United red.
He has featured in every matchday squad since his move from Bologna, but has only managed four goals and two assists in 28 games.
Reports of a move away have been gathering steam over the last few months, with a reunion with Thiago Motta , who managed him at Bologna, and is now in charge at Juventus on the cards.
Last week it was claimed that Juve could offer striker Dusan Vlahovic to United in exchange for Zirkzee, which may be tempting as a readymade option to bring more goalscoring potential into the squad.
Sky Sports report that Juve would prefer a loan deal for the player, but claim it is “unlikely” that United would consider a straight loan.
But where other reports have continued this line of thinking to conclude that the Red Devils want a permanent sale, Sky Sports note that actually the club would prefer to keep the player.
The report claims that Zirkzee’s camp “have received multiple approaches about a move” but “they have all been told he is not going anywhere.”
Juventus are joined by fellow Serie A heavyweights Napoli, Inter and Milan in their reported interest in the forward, and Sky Sports also note that “several Premier League clubs” have also made approaches.
Manager Ruben Amorim recently said, “I want to keep Josh because he gives everything. He’s trying in training but we don’t know, the window is open. We will see what happens.”
Most strikingly Sky Sports say that they understand “Zirkzee has no interest in leaving Manchester United as he loves the club and is determined to prove himself in the Premier League.”
This runs counter to the narrative that the Dutchman is unhappy at United and wants a move away, whether back to Italy or elsewhere.
Therefore this report is an outlier, with reliable claims elsewhere suggesting there is every chance Zirkzee will depart in January.
It does, however, come from a credible source and will give hope to fans who may hope to see the player given more of a chance to prove himself in the notoriously tough English top-flight.
Feature image Alex Pantling 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.
