Manchester United rejects a lucrative offer to offload Joshua Zirkzee to a major European power
Man Utd manager Ruben Amorim, striker Joshua Zirkzee
Man Utd manager Ruben Amorim and striker Joshua Zirkzee
The reasons Manchester United rejected a surprisingly lucrative offer to offload Joshua Zirkzee to a major European power earlier in January have been revealed, along with Ruben Amorim’s stance on the snub.
Zirkzee cost a package totalling £36.5m when bought from Bologna last summer. The Dutch frontman endured a nightmare start to life at Man Utd that hit rock bottom in the 2-0 defeat to Newcastle on December 30.
Zirkzee was hooked in the first half by manager Ruben Amorim, resulting in the tearful forward walking straight down the tunnel before re-emerging to take his seat in the dugout a few minutes later.
That prompted widespread speculation that Zirkzee was ready to prematurely end his Man Utd spell, with a return to Serie A in his thinking at the time.
Italian giant Juventus were attentive to the opportunity and according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, made a compelling offer for the 23-year-old earlier this window.
Via his YouTube channel, Romano revealed Juventus offered to sign Zirkzee on a six-month loan that contained an option to buy.
Furthermore, Juventus were prepared to cover Zirkzee’s entire salary during the initial loan and even offered to pay a loan fee.
Yet despite Zirkzee’s difficult beginning at Man Utd, the Red Devils rejected the move. As such, Juventus quickly turned their attention to PSG’s Randal Kolo Muani and wasted no time in thrashing out a six-month loan agreement.
Per Romano, the Kolo Muani move has been “completed,” though as yet has not been officially confirmed by either club.
“Before signing Kolo Muani, at the beginning of January from what I’m hearing Juventus presented a formal approach to Manchester United for Joshua Zirkzee,” said Romano.
“It was an important approach from Juventus who decided to go with a loan, but they also wanted to include an important buy option and covering the salary and loan fee too.
“So Juventus were prepared to do an important loan deal, but United closed the doors to a loan deal and decided to keep Zirkzee.”
Romano went on to state Zirkzee too was on board with sticking it out at Old Trafford after a troubled start.
“Also Zirkzee after a conversation he had with Man Utd confirmed his intention to stay at the club, to fight for his place and to fight for the Manchester United shirt.
“That was a really important message from Zirkzee and the player is now doing well again at Man Utd.”
Ruben Amorim stance on rejected bid
Zirkzee has shown significant signs of improvement over his last two appearances and made a game-changing impact off the bench last time out against Southampton.
And according to Romano, Zirkzee has also knuckled down in training. What’s more, he’s reportedly determined to improve his all-around game and help the team in any way he can.
It is that sort of attitude that has impressed manager Ruben Amorim. As such, Romano strongly suggested the United boss is firmly on board with keeping Zirkzee around.
“We saw how complicated the situation with Zirkzee was a few weeks ago,” continued Romano. “Credit to Ruben Amorim who was able to put the situation back [on track] with Zirkzee.
“Credit to the player because despite a difficult moment against Newcastle at Old Trafford he was able to fix the situation, to get back in good form and do very positive things in games.
“He’s improving, working hard, and Ruben Amorim is the kind of coach who when he sees the player working hard, is always backing and trusting the player.
“So you can improve, work hard, and this mentality is always appreciated by Amorim.”
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