Zlatan Ibrahimovic admits Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee ‘is the past’, but he and new coach Paulo Fonseca insist the Rossoneri will ‘soon’ welcome a new centre forward.
Milan are officially out of the race to sign Zirkzee, who is reportedly on the verge of joining Manchester United.
New coach Fonseca is being unveiled at a press conference on Monday morning, joined by Red Bird advisor Ibrahimovic.
The former Sweden international confirmed that Zirkee is no longer a target for the Serie A giants.
“As I said before, we are studying, but we are in no hurry,” he said.
“The transfer window is long and I can promise that we’ll get new signings. We are talking, but nothing is close. Zirkzee is the past. As Paulo said, we have a player in mind. I won’t say his name. There is somebody, let’s see.”
Milan were ready to pay Zirkzee €40m clause but refused to add €15m commission for the striker’s agent, while the Red Devils will match his demands.
Alvaro Morata is said to be the new leading candidate to become the new Milan centre forward but neither Ibra nor Fonseca named a specific transfer target.
“I don’t want to name anyone,” said Fonseca.
“As we said, we clearly know who is the player we want. What we know is that we want great quality for this position, which is very important. We lost Giroud, so when we change, we change to improve. To us, it’s clear. The striker must give a lot to the team. We know the characteristics and the player we want. I believe he’ll be here shortly.”
The Portuguese coach said that signing a new centre forward is a “priority” for the Rossoneri.
“We all know that we need a striker,” he added.
“We are together trying to bring a striker with appropriate skill sets. We want to play in the final third so we need a strong striker in this regard. We know which player we want. We are waiting to have him here shortly.”
Fonseca has signed a contract with Milan until June 2027.
His first full press conference will soon be available on Football Italia.
This is the reality when it comes to transfer fees, agents’ fees and wages. Milan are left to pick up scraps post the likes of Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, arsenal, spurs, Newcastle, liverpool, Aston Villa, PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, atletico Madrid etc have done their business. IF those clubs are interested in a player, Milan have to look for an alternative. That’s unless like inter, the club puts itself 400 million plus in the red, and then faces being repossessed or given points penalties/taking years out of europe.