Man Utd transfer gets ‘green light’ for January as another Red Devils star picks Real over Barcelona

Roma’s owners have given their recruitment team the ‘green light’ to seal a deal for Man Utd forward Joshua Zirkzee in January, according to reports.

Only four Premier League sides scored fewer goals than the Red Devils last season with Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund – who both signed under previous boss Erik ten Hag – scoring just seven league goals between them.

Man Utd co-owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS spent around £200m on the signings of Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha in order to improve their attacking output under Ruben Amorim.

That has worked to a certain extent but there are still massive question marks over Sesko, who has scored just twice this season, and Zirkzee, who has only started three Premier League matches.

Selling Zirkzee would leave Man Utd short for cover in the forward areas but now Italian website Calciomercato claim that Roma sporting director Frederic Massara ‘has received the green light from the Friedkins to negotiate directly’ with the Premier League side for Zirkzee.

Zirkzee’s agent, Kia Joorabchian, has told Roma that his client ‘would be thrilled to return to Serie A’ and the report adds: ‘Are negotiations on the table? Not exactly; Roma must reach a financial agreement with the player (he earns €4 million net per season) and with the Red Devils. But trust is there and growing significantly day by day. The parties are negotiating on the basis of a loan deal with favorable terms, triggering an obligation to buy for a total package worth €35 million.’

READ: Kobbie Mainoo in Premier League XI desperate for January move before 2026 World Cup

Although some reports have indicated that Amorim is putting a block on Kobbie Mainoo’s exit this summer, Spanish website Defensa Central insist that Real Madrid ‘will need to make a move very soon’ to beat Barcelona and other teams to the England international.

It is understood that Barcelona ‘are keen to tempt’ Mainoo but the Man Utd midfielder ‘prefers to go to Real Madrid’ if the opportunity arises in January.

Former Everton CEO Keith Wyness reckons Mainoo will join Chelsea over the next couple of transfer windows and “reinvent himself” at Stamford Bridge.

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Wyness told Football Insider: “I think it’s very unfair and I think that Mainoo, look, he’s a squandered talent in that sense. I just don’t think he’s, for some reason, he hasn’t caught [Ruben] Amorim’s eye. He thinks he doesn’t fit the style.

“I think that they decided that Adam Wharton is going to be one of their targets and I think that Mainoo may find himself reinventing himself at Chelsea.

“That’s where I see the situation going and that’s the whispers I’ve been hearing. I think it would be good for Mainoo. I think he needs to get out of there and move forward.”