Views: 4
Talk Sport
Joshua Zirkzee has arrived in Manchester and will complete his move to United today.
The Dutch striker flew into England on Thursday evening after the Netherlands were eliminated in the semi-finals by the Three Lions at Euro 2024, and will undergo a medical on Friday.
Zirkzee will become a Man United playerCredit: Getty
United paid slightly over the €40million (£34m) release clause in Zirkzee’s Bologna contract.
That is because they will stagger their payments to Bologna over a three-year period, and will pay a fee of €42.5m (£36m).
Zirkzee has agreed a contract until June 2029, with United holding an option to extend that for a further year.
Zirkzee proved to be key in Bologna‘s fifth-place finish in Serie A last season, which qualified them for the Champions League.
Man United ready to trigger £34m deal for Euro 2024 forward on one condition
A knee injury on loan with Parma threatened to derail his promising career but spells with Anderlecht, and now back in Italy have reset his course.
And the 6ft 4in forward arrives at United as a fully-fledged international having made his debut for the Dutch in their 2-1 quarter-final win over Turkey.
He became only the third Netherlands star ever to earn their first cap at a European Championship, behind Martien Vreijsen and Cody Gakpo.
Zirkzee may have been knocked out of the Euros by England, but fans spotted Kobbie Mainoo seemingly welcoming him as a Man United player.
Zirkzee will be working under one of the United’s greatest ever goalscorers and fellow Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has joined Erik ten Hag’s coaching staff.
Meanwhile, United are also closing on another Netherlands star – Matthijs De Ligt.
Talks are advancing between Bayern Munich and United over a deal for the centre-back.
De Ligt wants to join United and has verbally agreed teams, with the Premier League club now trying to thrash out an agreement on the fee, which is likely to be over £40m.
Manchester United manager Ten Hag knows De Ligt all too well given he coached him at Ajax across two seasons.
One of those came in 2018/19 when the Dutch giants shocked European giants Real Madrid in the Champions League as they reached the semi-finals of the competition.
He was also in Netherlands’ squad at Euro 2024 alongside Zirkzee.