AC Milan Give Up Pursuit of Joshua Zirkzee, Clearing Path for Manchester United Move
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, senior advisor on the AC Milan board, has confirmed that the club has ended its interest in signing Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee.
The 21-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, with reports suggesting the Red Devils are willing to trigger his €40million (£33.8m) release clause.
With Milan out of the running, the path is now clear for United to secure Zirkzee’s signature.
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Ibrahimovic said:
‘I can guarantee that new signings will arrive. We are talking, discussing. There is nothing done.’
‘Zirkzee is in the past. We have one in mind, but I will not say the name. There is someone we are aiming for.
‘To sign players you also have to create space. We don’t want to have a squad of 30 players, but 23.
The new signings will arrive, but we also have to create space so as not to have too many players who are not functional to the coach.
‘We have to think not only about who comes in, but also about who will leave.
Whoever arrives is to improve the team, everything is designed to improve the roster. It’s not just sign, sign, sign, we don’t have to have 40-50 players like in American soccer.’
Asked if he felt disappointed by the demands of Joorabchian during the negotiations for Zirkzee, Ibrahimovic replied:
‘No. Never disappointed. This is part of football. Reality and rumours are two different things.
‘There are agents who solve problems and agents who create problems. In this case it was neither.
‘The rumours that were going around were not the same as reality. We have an idea for the attack, we hope it comes in as quickly as possible.’
