Man United January exit put in jeopardy as Serie A club target £30m Tottenham star as an alternative
Serie A side Roma are reportedly interested in a Manchester United player ahead of the January transfer window.
Ruben Amorim will be desperate to get back to action in the Premier League, hoping to get into the top four places with a win against Everton on Monday night. Amorim hopes his Manchester United side can go into the January transfer window looking like real Champions League contenders.
If so, it will help Amorim bring his transfer targets in as he looks to strengthen his squad for the second half of the season. Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson has emerged as a strong target, but the midfielder is expected to cost around £100m, meaning United may have to sell first.
There have been a couple of Man United players linked to leaving the club in January, with both Joshua Zirkzee and Kobbie Mainoo as potential candidates. Zirkzee has been linked with a move to the Serie A, just one and a half years after he joined United from Bologna for £36.5m.
Roma consider Spurs star as Zirkzee alternative
Zirkzee has seen a lot of interest from Serie A side Roma, who are looking to add a striker to their ranks after Brighton loanee Evan Ferguson hasn’t been able to have the impact he would have hoped for. Several reports have said that Roma are in talks over a potential loan-to-buy deal for Zirkzee in January, but it has been put in jeopardy.
According to the Metro, Roma could turn their attention to Tottenham attacker Mathys Tel if they opt out of a deal for Zirkzee. Tel joined Spurs on loan in January last year, before they made him a permanent signing for £30m. He has struggled for consistent form, and could see an early exit from North London just one year after joining.
The biggest issue with Roma going after Zirkzee is that he would need to take a pay-cut to join the club, or United would have to pay a bigger cut of his wages so that the Italian club can afford to bring him in.
Zirkzee could help replace Sesko
Amid all the reports of a potential exit for Zirkzee in the January window, Benjamin Sesko recently suffered a knee injury, which could be worse than initially feared. The knee issue that he is dealing with is initially being assessed, with Amorim not sure yet on how serious the problem is.
Amorim said: “That [his recent form] is not the biggest concern now, I'm concerned with an injury, because it is in the knee, and I don't know. He has something in his knee. Let's see. When we have to take out Maguire and Casemiro at the same time, then suffer two goals, then lose Ben, you have to overcome everything."
If Sesko does end up missing a significant amount of time due to his knee issue, Man United could have to rely on Zirkzee, as he is one of the only other out-and-out strikers that the Red Devils have. If the Dutch striker does become more important for United, they could opt out of letting him leave in January.