Manchester United's disappointing rookie Joshua Zirkzee seems to be becoming a surprise target for Juventus.
The Dutch striker's poor form hit rock bottom in Man United's 0-2 loss to Newcastle. He was substituted after just 32 minutes as the "Red Devils" led by 2 goals and were aiming for an embarrassing defeat against Newcastle.
Meanwhile, Juventus have been tracking Zirkzee with the aim of bringing him back to Serie A when the January transfer window opens. The Italian side have even had ambitions to sign the Dutchman before that.
Turin wants to loan Zirkzee out for the rest of the season, although Man United may suggest that the deal will include a mandatory buy-in clause. The opportunity for this striker to reunite with former Bologna coach Thiago Motta at Juventus will be extremely attractive.
Juventus are falling behind in the Serie A title race, nine points behind leaders Atalanta, despite being unbeaten in their first 18 games of the season. However, they are still in the Champions League.
Zirkzee has played excellently under Motta at Bologna since moving from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022. Zirkzee's form prompted Man United to spend £36.5m on his services last summer.
However, after scoring the decisive goal in his Premier League debut against Fulham, Zirkzee has only scored 3 more goals in the next 26 appearances.
Coach Ruben Amorim's decision to start him against Newcastle was counterproductive, to the point that home fans cheered when the striker left the field. Zirkzee almost burst into tears when entering the dressing room.
The problem is, with Marcus Rashford set to leave Old Trafford after making it clear he wants a new challenge, Amorim would find it difficult to accept Zirkzee's departure unless a new signing comes along.
"You have to think about the team and sometimes the player. The player is having trouble, and I have been in that situation. I felt Joshua Zirkzee and the team were having a big problem, and at that time I needed to make a change to improve the situation.
We needed another midfielder to control the game and I decided to take Zirkzee off," Amorim said of the decision to take Zirkzee off early in the defeat to Newcastle.
