Signings of De Ligt, Zirkzee ‘to advance’

Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has held talks with Netherlands pair Joshua Zirkzee and Matthijs de Ligt about joining the Premier League side, according to a report.

Bologna forward Zirkzee has agreed the financial terms of a move while Bayern Munich defender De Ligt is set to be reunited with Ten Hag, Fabrizio Romano has claimed.

The transfer reporter said Ten Hag has spoken to Zirkzee by telephone “several times”, with United considering whether to activate a release clause of around £33.4m which is valid until August.

🇳🇱 Joshua Zirkzee’s statistically calculated WhoScored characteristics:

✅ Strengths

🟢 Dribbling
🟢 Passing
🟢 Through balls
🟢 Defensive contribution

❌ Weaknesses

𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 pic.twitter.com/mGn8VjuqUl

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) July 7, 2024

Joshua Zirkzee stats

Zirkzee made his international debut when he came on as a substitute in his country’s second-half comeback win over Turkiye in the quarter-finals of Uefa Euro 2024 on Saturday.

The 23-year-old joined Bologna from Bayern in 2022 and was named Serie A’s Young Player of the Year for 2023/24, scoring 11 times and providing five assists in 34 league appearances.

De Ligt played under Ten Hag at Ajax before joining Juventus for £67.8 million in 2019, moving on to Juve for £65.6 million in 2022. The 24-year-old centre-back has been an unused substitute for Oranje in Germany.

🚨 Manchester United have green light from both Joshua Zirkzee and Matthijs de Ligt to join the club.

Both players have spoken to Erik ten Hag with Man United now ready to advance on club side in the coming days.

It’s all approved on salary/commission also for Zirkzee. pic.twitter.com/3smr51uuOa

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 7, 2024

United suffered a string of defensive injury problems in 2023/24 and experienced centre-back Raphael Varane left the club at the end of the season.

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De Ligt ‘very capable’

Ruben Jongkind, who was Ajax’s head of academy development during De Ligt’s time with the Dutch giants, has said the Amsterdammers academy product could be of “great value” to United.

“He is very capable of dealing with pressure but you also need the experience,” Jongkind told the Manchester Evening News.

“His time will come. His development is pretty good; he has played a lot of matches for Juve and a lot in the Dutch team. He’s still only 24. But now it’s the time to really become a pillar in the team and… really become a crucial player.

“He was catapulted straight from the academy into the first team [at Ajax], which was very easy for him back then. Ten Hag told him new things and details [on how to reach] the top.”