AC Milan transfer plan to sign Joshua Zirkzee revealed

Manchester United’s Joshua Zirkzee has endured a largely forgettable time at club level since Michael Carrick took over.

That frustration nearly came to a head before the transfer deadline, with United keeping him despite plenty of noise over a potential exit.

Fiorentina had a loan proposal rejected by Joshua Zirkzee himself in the closing days of the window, worth €5million with a €30million buy option, before La Viola moved swiftly to sign Everton’s Beto instead.

That came months after Roma had also shown concrete interest back in January, underlining just how regularly his name has surfaced in exit speculation since his £36.5million move from Bologna in 2024.

AC Milan transfer plan to sign Joshua Zirkzee revealed

Now AC Milan have reportedly turned their attention back to the Dutchman, with Calcio Mercato reporting they could move for him on loan with an option to buy once the January window opens.

Zirkzee’s time at United has returned just 5 goals in 58 appearances across all competitions since his arrival, numbers that fall well short of what was hoped for when Erik ten Hag pushed hard to sign him.

The picture has looked rather different on international duty.

Called up by the Netherlands as a late replacement for the injured Brian Brobbey, Zirkzee came off the bench against Serbia on Sunday and scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory, his first international strike in two years and only his second goal in 6 caps overall.

He turned home Tijjani Reijnders’ low cross in the 72nd minute to settle the contest, a performance that also included a completed long ball success rate of 100% and an aerial duel won during his 45 minutes on the pitch.

The win moved Xavi Hernandez’s side top of their Nations League group, with the new head coach now unbeaten in four matches since taking charge.

For Zirkzee, the contrast between his club and international form has rarely been starker, and reports suggest it could finally be time for the forward to search for regular football elsewhere once the January window arrives, with Milan the latest side circling.