Manchester United could do with Joshua Zirkzee transfer what they did with Rasmus Hojlund

In the space of four days in August 2022, two forwards moved to Serie A clubs for a combined fee of €25.5m. The arrival of Rasmus Hojlund at Atalanta and Joshua Zirkzee at Bologna attracted little attention outside of Italy at the time.

Fast forward a couple of years and there is a chance Hojlund and Zirkzee will be reunited at Manchester United. Atalanta turned a £50m profit on Hojlund within a year and now Bologna are eyeing up a £27m profit on Zirkzee. The similarities between the two are stark and while United's pursuit of the 23-year-old Dutch forward makes financial sense, it will leave them with two strikers both still learning their trade at the highest level.

A year ago United overpaid for Hojlund, agreeing a deal worth an initial £64m, with a further £8m in add-ons. That came days after senior club officials had suggested they wouldn't go anywhere near as high as that. Late night negotiations with Atalanta ended with that deal being agreed and it could yet look like value, even if the striker had been available for just £15m a year earlier.

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With Zirkzee having a €40m release clause it is an easier deal to do with Bologna and it looks like a more realistic fee for a striker who has made a breakthrough but is still a work in progress at the age of 23. His move to Serie A came after a successful loan move at Anderlecht, with Bologna seeing enough to sign him from Bayern Munich.

Zirkzee's potential was more visible than Hojlund's as a young player. He moved from Feyenoord to Bayern as a 16-year-old and scored a hat-trick on his debut for Bayern's B team, but his 17