Manchester United have “closed” conversations over the departure originally thought to be available for sale.
There has been plenty of change at Manchester United over the last few weeks, with Ruben Amorim receiving his marching orders, before being replaced by Darren Fletcher in the short term, and then by Michael Carrick until the end of the season.
The latter has got off to an incredible start, winning his first game of this present spell 2-0 against arch-rivals Manchester City, with goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu.
Michael Carrick’s Manchester United close conversation on selling sidelined player
While Carrick couldn’t have hoped for a better start on the pitch, the current situation in the Old Trafford dugout does not make transfer business easy.
The club will, only a few weeks ago, have been shaping the squad in a way that suits Amorim, and now must change their focus for Carrick’s priorities, but with the knowledge that a new figure is likely to take over in the summer.
It is in those competing interests that have somewhat disrupted Joshua Zirkzee, who was up until recently thought to be available due to his reduced first-team involvement, following the signings of Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko.
Reports from Italian website Siamo La Roma suggested the 24-year-old still wanted to move to Roma, with a loan plus obligation to buy for €40million under discussion, on the condition that the Giallorossi qualified for the Champions League.
However, in an interview quoted by Sport Mediaset, Roma’s sporting director, Frederic Massara, revealed that the Red Devils cancelled the talks “weeks ago”.
“Manchester United closed the deal pretty clearly a couple of weeks ago and have never reopened the conversation,” Massara said.
It follows Roma’s recent recruitment of Robinio Vaz and Donyell Malen, the funds required for which may have made the deal for Zirkzee difficult in any case.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, this will be a frustrating development for Zirkzee. He is, understandably, very keen to make it into the Netherlands’ World Cup squad, but his route to regular first-team minutes is unclear, especially now that Mbeumo and Amad have returned from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Roma not having the funds to complete the transfer, on top of their other business, or preferring other targets, would have made sense. However, United being the party to cancel the talks may raise a few questions for the Dutchman.
Zirkzee is valued at €25m, according to Transfermarkt.
