Aston Villa Join Juventus in Fray to Sign Zirkzee | OneFootball

Despite Cristiano Giuntoli’s words about Juventus not actively shopping for a new center-forward, the rumors linking the Bianconeri to Joshua Zirkzee aren’t going away. They aren’t the only side tracking him though.

According to Caught Offside (via Mediaset), Aston Villa laid eyes on the struggling Dutchman too. On the other hand, Manchester United would rather send him back to Italy than to another Premier League team. He played 25 minutes off the bench in Ruben Amorim’s debut. He was urged to attack the box more by the coach afterward.

Per Corriere dello Sport, Juventus are in touch with the agent of Zirkzee, but also with the camps of Lorenzo Lucca and Beto. Giuntoli is a big fan of the latter, who hasn’t done particularly well in the Premier League either. The Italian striker has been supplanted by Keinan Davis lately, but Udinese value him €25M. While there’s room to haggle on the formula, a sizeable splash would be necessary to add him.

The suggestion of a swap of summer flops with Manchester United, with Douglas Luiz heading back to the Premier League, has been floated, but there’s nothing concrete about it for now, Calciomercato informs. The Bianconeri are determined to make it work with the newcomer. He has missed a lot of time due to a minor thigh issue.

Our Take on Juventus and Zirkzee

The connection is easy given his ties with Thiago Motta, but they have more pressing needs for January. Unless he falls into their lap, it’ll make more sense to chase him in the summer, when it’ll be known whether Dusan Vlahovic will stay or go as a result of his extension saga.