Talks held: Man United meet with club chiefs to discuss transfer but new complication has emerged

Manchester United have reportedly had recent meetings with Roma officials to discuss a potential transfer deal for Joshua Zirkzee .

However, it seems that a deal is not necessarily close to being agreed, and Roma may have alternatives in mind if they cannot land the Netherlands international.

Zirkzee hasn’t played much first-team football for Man Utd in recent times, so it makes sense that his future is in doubt, but it looks like this saga could get complicated, if the latest reports are to be believed.

According to Corriere dello Sport , United and Roma chiefs recently met in London to discuss a deal for Zirkzee , but it’s suggested that he currently looks too expensive for the Serie A side.

Joshua Zirkzee in action for Manchester United (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

With no agreement in sight, it seems Roma are also looking at Atletico Madrid’s Giacomo Raspadori, according to Alfredo Pedulla’s report for Football Italia .

It will be interesting to see what this means for the Red Devils, who surely need to lower their demands for Zirkzee and simply focus on getting him off their books.

It’s hard to see what United could possibly get out of clinging on to Zirkzee for much longer as he’s clearly not in Ruben Amorim’s plans.

Of course, there’s always the argument that MUFC would do well to ensure they have depth in attack, but that’s not a role the player is going to be happy with, especially in a World Cup year.

United could also probably do better if they allow Zirkzee to leave now and work on finding a replacement who’d offer them a better option up front anyway.

If they keep the 24-year-old for too much longer without playing him, then his value will surely only go down even further, so it’s hard to see a positive outcome from this strategy.