Manchester United’s interest in Joshua Zirkzee has somewhat diminished with Bayern Munich striker Mathys Tel entering the spotlight, according to Florian Plettenberg.
The Red Devils currently have Rasmus Hojlund as their first-choice striker. The Dane has been in sparkling form lately with six goals from his last seven appearances for the club.
Despite this, manager Erik ten Hag is eyeing a new striker to provide competition. Plettenberg recently reported that United have made contact with the representatives of Tel.
Bologna’s Zirkzee is another player that has been on their radar over recent weeks, but it is now reported that the interest has ‘somewhat diminished’ with the focus switching to Tel.
Man Utd have tough task of landing Tel from Bayern
Tel joined the Bavarian giants from Rennes last summer and managed only 600 minutes in his debut season. He made 24 of his 28 appearances from the centre-forward role.
It has been a similar story for him this term. He has accumulated just 731 minutes from 27 outings. He has most played on the left wing after Harry Kane’s from Tottenham Hotspur.
His lack of regular minutes have led to speculation over his future, but we don’t believe Bayern will open the door for his departure when the transfer window reopens this summer.
The €50 million-rated wonderkid still has three years left on his €77,000-a-week deal. In our view, the story could be agent-driven to secure him a new contract with a pay rise.
If Bayern contemplate the prospect of selling the 18-year-old, it could take a significant transfer fee which we don’t see United spending on a back-up striker, particularly with Financial Fair Play issues.
The same could be the case for Zirkzee, who could cost around €45-50m. There is a realistic possibility that United could go for Serhou Guirassy, who has a €17.5m release clause in his Stuttgart deal.
United were determined to sign the Guinean star in the recent transfer window, but a move did not materialise due to FFP issues. The club are likely to revisit their interest at the end of the campaign.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Capology.com
