Arsenal face new competition in 'Dutch Ibrahimovic' valued at €60m

Imre Himmelbauer

• Updated: 29 Jan 2024 14:50 GMT
• 2 min read

Arsenal face fresh competition from AC Milan in the battle to sign Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee.

Milan have become completely convinced of the talents of a player dubbed the ‘Dutch Ibrahimovic’ and want to do everything they can to sign the striker in the summer, Tuttosport reports.

The 22-year-old forward once again impressed in the match between Bologna and the San Siro club (2-2) on Saturday and scored the opening goal after 29 minutes.

Milan are now working on a plan to free Zirkzee from Bologna, but the Serie A cannot do the deal at the moment.

Bologna values the attacker at around €50-60 million, an amount that Milan cannot afford. The Rossoneri are therefore considering including Alexis Saelemaekers in the deal. The Belgian is already on loan at the northern Italian club and could, if Zirkzee moves to the San Siro, move permanently to the Rossoblu.

In addition, AC Milan also expects to receive a significant amount for Charles De Ketelaere. The 22-year-old Belgian, is on loan at Atalanta with an option to buy. So far, the attacking midfielder a has performed well, which is why Milan expect that the Bergamo club will exercise the purchase option, worth between €25-30m.

Zirkzee wanted in Premier League

There is interest from the Premier League, too, with Arsenal most closely associated with the player at present. Newcastle and Manchester United are also tracking him.

On top of this, Bayern Munich carry an interest in Zirkzee as they have a buyback option of €40m that they will be able to exercise no matter what the English sides do.

Zirkzee has been one of the absolute standouts at Bologna this season, where he was typically on the bench last season.

This year he scored nine goals and generated four assists in 23 matches. The striker's contract runs until the summer of 2026. His Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) is €15.6 million according to the FootballTransfers algorithm.