Joshua Zirkzee has become the subject of fresh transfer discussion in the closing stages of the summer window, with Aston Villa understood to have made contact with Manchester United over a possible move.<\/p>\n
According to Fabrizio Romano, Villa have made a phone call to United to ask about Zirkzee\u2019s availability and the terms of any potential agreement. A switch is not considered straightforward, but it remains a scenario that could still develop before the window closes.<\/p>\n
Villa\u2019s need for attacking depth is clear. They are preparing for their second Champions League campaign in three seasons and currently have limited cover at centre-forward. That situation could become more pressing if Al Hilal succeed in tempting unsettled Ollie Watkins to Saudi Arabia. Tammy Abraham is the only other senior No. 9, while Brian Madjo, who scored in the UEFA Super Cup, is highly rated but will not turn 18 until January.<\/p>\n
Zirkzee is not Villa\u2019s main target. That priority is said to be Chelsea\u2019s Nicolas Jackson, who previously worked with Unai Emery at Villarreal. Jackson became available after Chelsea moved ahead with Emmanuel Emegha, although his fee and wider interest in him mean Villa have no guarantee of landing the Senegal international.<\/p>\n
The Dutch forward is not viewed as a classic penalty-box striker. Despite his size, Zirkzee tends to play deeper and contribute to combination play and buildup, a profile closer to Harry Kane than Erling Haaland.<\/p>\n
At present, a move to Aston Villa appears unlikely, because it depends on Jackson not arriving and United accepting suitable terms for Zirkzee within a short timeframe.<\/p>\n
Romano also says that if Zirkzee does leave, it is worth keeping a \u201cclose eye\u201d on United\u2019s response, with a backup striker to Benjamin \u0160e\u0161ko already a familiar idea.<\/p>\n
Matheus Cunha and Marcus Rashford can both play up front, with the former selected ahead of \u0160e\u0161ko in the opening-day defeat to Hull City, but United have been linked with a striker addition throughout the summer, even if it remains behind central midfield, goalkeeper and left back in their list of priorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Aston Villa have contacted Manchester United about Joshua Zirkzee, but any deal looks difficult to complete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[711,1647,179,172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aston-villa","category-champions-league","category-manchester-united","category-epl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}