Juventus agree personal terms with Joshua Zirkzee alternative

Deadline day always has a habit of moving faster than the deals themselves.

Manchester United’s forward line has spent much of the past week hanging on developments hundreds of miles away in Turin.

Benjamin Sesko has carried the goalscoring burden up-front almost single-handedly since Michael Carrick arrived last season, with precious little senior cover behind him.

Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo can both fill in through the middle if needed, but neither offers Michael Carrick a genuine like-for-like alternative.

That imbalance has made Joshua Zirkzee’s situation one of the defining subplots of United’s entire window.

According to Fabrizio Romano, via X, Juventus have now agreed personal terms with Nick Woltemade, who wants the move, with negotiations ongoing over a loan fee with Newcastle.

That development looks set to end Zirkzee’s hopes of a return to Serie A before the deadline passes.

Fiorentina had earlier tabled a €5million loan proposal with a €30million buy option, only for Zirkzee to turn it down, with La Viola swiftly agreeing a permanent deal for Everton’s Beto instead.

That rejection made more sense once his real preference became apparent, with reports suggesting he had been quietly stalling in the hope Juventus would eventually enter the race.

They did, submitting an offer worth around €2.5million for a loan with a €30million buyout option, a structure United considered short of their €35million valuation for the full package.

Juventus’ interest was always tied to first moving on Jonathan David, whose form had dipped badly enough in Turin that a loan move to Atletico Madrid looked close to being finalised.

While that Canadian exit was being negotiated, Juventus quietly opened a parallel line of contact with Newcastle over Woltemade, even as Joshua Zirkzee remained their stated priority.

Woltemade’s inconsistent second half of last season, following his club-record £69million move from Stuttgart, appears to have made Newcastle more receptive to a temporary departure than many expected.

The German scored 11 goals in 53 appearances during his debut campaign at St James’ Park, though his dip in form opened the door to interest from Napoli and Borussia Dortmund as well as Juventus.

Woltemade offers Luciano Spalletti a different physical profile to Zirkzee, and that combined with his own eagerness to push the move through appears to have swung things in his favour.

For Zirkzee, the setback leaves his exit route increasingly narrow with barely a day remaining before the window shuts.

His underwhelming return at Old Trafford, five goals in 56 Premier League appearances since his £36.5million move from Bologna, has never quite matched the promise that greeted his arrival under Erik ten Hag.