Man Utd decide to ‘only’ sanction January exit on one condition as INEOS ‘reject offer in a flash’

According to reports, Manchester United have ‘rejected an offer’ for Joshua Zirkzee as they will ‘only’ let him leave in January on one condition.

Zirkzee joined Man Utd during the 2024 summer transfer window for around £36,5m from Serie A outfit Bologna .

The versatile forward was heavily criticised during his debut season at Man Utd as he only scored three Premier League goals, but he did perform better than Rasmus Hojlund.

Therefore, United decided to keep Zirkzee in the summer to provide competition for new signing Benjamin Sesko, while Hojlund was offloaded to Napoli in a loan-to-buy deal worth around £44m.

Zirkzee has largely been on the periphery this season as Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha have been preferred, while he has not taken his chance when given the opportunity.

This means Zirkzee could leave Man Utd in January to increase his chances of playing for the Netherlands at next summer’s World Cup as he is attracting interest from several sides in the Premier League and Europe.

Serie A giants AS Roma currently look to be the most likely club to sign Zirkzee, but a report from Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport claims they have had an ‘initial offer rejected in a flash’ by Man Utd.

It is indicated that this offer was a loan with a buy option, which is dependent on Roma qualifying for the Champions League. They are currently fourth in Serie A.

However, The Metro are reporting that the Red Devils will ‘only’ let him leave if he is sold permanently.

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The report claims.

‘United have indicated they will only offload Zirzkee on a permanent transfer as they want the cash now, potentially to spend during the January transfer window. ‘If Roma cannot reach an agreement with Manchester United, they will look at alternative targets such as Corinthians forward Yuri Alberto.’

Journalist Pete O’Rourke, meanwhile, insists Roma are currently “leading the race to bring Zirkzee back to Italy”.

“He’s going to be needed for United over these next few weeks for sure,” O’Rourke told Football Insider.

“As long as he’s getting game time I’m sure Zirkzee will be happy that he’s got a role to play at Old Trafford but, it won’t stop interest in him because he is still highly thought of in Italy.

“He had great success in Serie A with Bologna…Roma are one of the teams leading the race to bring Zirkzee back to Italy.

“So, let’s see what happens over the next couple of weeks.”