How Manchester United sealed a move for Joshua Zirkzee | OneFootball

It is now official – Manchester United have completed the signing of Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna and the move was announced to much fanfare earlier today.

The journey to the move has been rather topsy turvy and United had to beat competition from other clubs to sign the Dutchman, who did play for Netherlands at EURO 2024 but didn’t quite feature too much. But at the back of his impressive season at Bologna, he does deserve this big move.

At one point, Bologna seemed set to sell the player to Milan. Juventus did initially try to sign him through Bayern Munich’s help and sought to get the Bavarians to sign him on a cheap fee and then sell him to them. But Milan soon made progress over the move, letting Bologna know that they will pay his release clause.

Kia Joorabchian, the famed and well-known agent, had inserted a release clause of €40 million in the player’s clause but also wanted a significant commission to sell the player because of his help towards the Rossoblu regarding the transfer. Milan did initially come close to meeting the commission demand and the move nearly went through, until the demands went up.

They stood at €15 million, which Milan deemed as too high. As a result, talks never materialised once again. They stalled as Joorabchian refused to give discounts.

Meanwhile, United made contact for the player and sought information. As Milan continued to delay, they conveyed their desire to pay the release clause and also decided to meet Joorabchian’s demands. Personal terms were agreed quickly enough and after the end of the Euros, it didn’t take long for the move to go through.

At the end of it, the move came down to agent demands and it shows the harsh differences between the financial capacity of the Serie A and the Premier League.

Kaustubh Pandey I GIFN