Joshua Zirkzee could leave Manchester United as early as January after a disappointing start to his Old Trafford career, the Italian press have claimed.

According to Calciomercato, if Zirkzee’s troublesome spell continues then he might follow in the footsteps of Romelu Lukaku by leaving a Premier League club early and returning to Italy.

Lukaku played for Man Utd between 2017 and 2019, while he spent just one season back at Chelsea before returning to Inter Milan on loan in the 2022-23 season.

There is supposedly the possibility of an early ‘separation’ between Man Utd and Zirkzee as the Netherlands striker has netted just one goal in 10 appearances for the Red Devils so far.

Following a £36.5million (€43.5m / US$47.8m) move from Bologna in July, Zirkzee marked his Man Utd debut by scoring a late winner against Fulham in his team’s first Premier League match of the campaign.

But Zirkzee has failed to build on that short, game-changing display and has come in for criticism in recent weeks.

Calciomercato state that AC Milan, Juventus and Roma are all keeping tabs on the 23-year-old’s situation. Those three Italian giants may swoop in if they discover that Man Utd are open to selling Zirkzee in the winter transfer window.

Milan were very keen on landing Zirkzee in the summer. The Rossoneri missed out on him to Man Utd but could soon be given another opportunity to strike a deal.

Joshua Zirkzee transfer value has dropped
Sources have confirmed to TEAMtalk transfer insider Rudy Galetti that the Man Utd hierarchy are frustrated with the fact that Zirkzee’s value has dropped since his summer switch, and they may be open to loaning him out in the future.

TEAMtalk can also confirm that Juventus and Milan are indeed interest in the attacker. Thiago Motta would like to reunite with him at Juve, as the pair struck up a great relationship during their time together at Bologna.

Real Madrid are reportedly ‘on the verge’ of securing a deal to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold after a Liverpool plan initiated over two years ago ‘backfired’, according to a report.

Alexander-Arnold is one of three Liverpool superstars in the final year of their respective contracts. The others are Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah. The Reds are at risk of losing all three to free agency and Alexander-Arnold has a confirmed admirer in the form of Real Madrid.

According to a fresh update from The Sun, Liverpool’s ultra-creative right-back is closer to joining Real Madrid than is being reported elsewhere.

They described Alexander-Arnold as being ‘on the verge’ of a ‘Real Madrid move.’ Explaining why, it was suggested the influence of Jude Bellingham – a close personal friend of Alexander-Arnold – is set to prove pivotal.

The pair have struck up a genuine friendship over the past few years and per the report, it all began when Liverpool tasked Alexander-Arnold with attempting to cajole Bellingham into signing for Liverpool over two years ago. The Reds’ aim at that time was to overhaul their ageing midfield in the summer of 2023 and Bellingham was their No 1 target.

However, fast forward to the present day and not only did Bellingham reject Liverpool in favour of signing with Real Madrid, but The Sun state he could now be a deciding factor in luring Alexander-Arnold to The Bernabeu too.

Real Madrid are reportedly ready to step up their interest on the back of Dani Carvajal suffering a season-ending ACL injury. A January move has been speculated, though The Sun state a free agent swoop in the summer is more to Real Madrid’s liking.

Galatasaray are testing the waters to see whether they could sign another Serie A ace, as they are tracking Paulo Dybala.

There could be a meeting with Roma soon to assess the viability of the deal for either January or next summer, SportMediaset reports.

La Joya was on the brink of joining Al-Qadsiah last summer but changed his mind at the last second. The Giallorossi had yet to concur to the fee. They would have had to settle for a meager figure after the Saudi side tendered a humungous contract.

Galatasaray don’t seem worried about the personal terms of Dybala. They will attempt to pull off another coup after landing Victor Osimhen on loan. The Argentine is technically under contract with Roma only until June. However, his deal is highly likely to be renewed through an appearance-based clause, even though he has had a challenging start to the season due to minor muscular issues. He’s been able to start just four times and has logged big minutes only in two games.

The former Juventus star is by far the highest-paid player on the Giallorossi squad. The brass culled almost all the veterans with large wages last summer. He has a convoluted €12M release clause that takes effect every July.