Joshua Zirkzee's dream Man United shirt number now available despite Joel Glazer's wishes

Joshua Zirkzee has a clear path to his preferred No.9 shirt at Manchester United following Anthony Martial's departure.

The 23-year-old forward, who was instrumental in helping Bologna secure a fifth-place finish in Serie A last season with 11 goals and four assists, is being heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford in the summer transfer window.

The former Bayern Munich star's impressive club form earned him his first senior call-up for the Netherlands, making his international debut off the bench in their 2-1 Euro 2024 quarter-final victory against Turkey on Saturday.

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United, along with several other top European clubs, have shown interest in Zirkzee as they look to fill the void left by Martial's exit at the end of his contract. This is one of the first transfer tasks facing Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS team.

With the recruitment reins now in their hands, majority owners the Glazers no longer have any say in the club's market dealings. If they did, things might not have reached this stage, reports the Mirror.

Co-chairman Joel was reportedly a big fan of Martial, even going so far as to view him as their very own Pele. As such, he reportedly blocked both Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's attempts to sell the Frenchman.

However, Martial never lived up to his early career potential with the Red Devils, with recurring injury issues hampering his nine-year spell. Now aged 28, those comparisons to Brazil's greatest football icon seem massively misplaced.

Glazer will likely be disappointed with Martial's time in