Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has confirmed that he wants to keep striker Joshua Zirkzee beyond January transfer window.
Signed for £36.5m by former United boss Erik ten Hag this summer, Zirkzee has had a poor start to life in England and has been heavily linked with a return to Serie A, with both Napoli and Juventus named as suitors.
While Amorim admitted that anything can happen in the transfer window, he stressed his desire to keep Zirkzee until the end of the season.
“I want to keep Josh because he’s doing his best and working hard in training, but we don’t know,” Amorim told the media after Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool.
“The window is open and we’ll see what happens. We just need to focus on training and use this for the other games. It’s only one point so let’s focus on the performance for the next games.”
It was previously reported that Zirkzee is already expressed his desire to stay at United at least until the end of this season, while the Red Devils are also said to have warned Juventus that he will not be able to get his signature on the loan agreement at a reduced price.
Zirkzee’s struggles during the first half of the season worsened when he substituted in the first half of the recent 2-0 defeat by Newcastle Unitedwith fans inside Old Trafford booing the Dutchman as he trudged down the tunnel.
“I’ve been in the stands and I’ve never seen anything like this and it really frustrates and annoys me because he’s a player who always gives his best,” said club captain Bruno Fernandes talkSPORT incident.
“As a player coming to a team from the second division, he needs time to adapt, but he has great qualities. He didn’t show all the quality, but it can’t be that from the first game of the season everyone cheered him as one of the best strikers and now everyone no longer believes into him. I’d rather be in this position against Newcastle than in that position.”
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