Joshua Zirkzee of Bologna is a striker, and Manchester United has made significant progress towards acquiring him. Erik ten Hag and company have already contacted Zirkzee’s representation in an attempt to beat Tottenham and Arsenal to a transfer.

The Red Devils’ absence of a consistent goal scorer has obviously affected their season as they have struggled in front of goal this year. Rasmus Hojlund, the summer acquisition, has shown glimpses of his potential, but Ten Hag has had to carefully control his workload. Meanwhile, Manchester United has scored just 24 goals in 21 games this season, which is the fewest goals scored by any team in the top half of the table. This is due to a lack of competition up front and profligacy in front of goal.

In fact, Liverpool, who now lead the league, has nearly twice as many goals as United has, which is a major factor in why United’s season has thus far been miserable mediocrity.

Understanding those difficulties, Ten Hag has been frantically trying to bolster his team throughout the January transfer window.

It is doubtful that a new striker will join United with only hours remaining to conduct business. That is in spite of TEAMtalk sources claiming PSG has offered United and several other Premier League teams the opportunity to recruit unwelcome striker Hugo Ekitike on a loan basis.

In all honesty, any significant United signings will probably have to wait until the summer, by which time both of their FFP limitations will have loosened and the team will have received a fresh financial boost from newly appointed minority stakeholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

The name of Bologna attacker Zirkzee is one that seems to be attracting more attention before the summer transfer window opens.

After leaving Bayern Munich for Italy, the Netherlands U21 striker has established a strong reputation for himself. In 23 games this season, he has scored 10 goals and provided two assists. Zirkzee has shown to be a challenging opponent for Serie A defenders to try and contain, averaging 2.6 shots per game this season.

Due to his success, more Premier League teams are beginning to pay attention to his performances; Arsenal and Tottenham are two of the teams that have been connected with a January approach.

But now that Florian Plettenberg of Sky Deutschland has revealed that United has shown the greatest interest in all, Ben Jacobs of CBS has revealed what he knows about United’s hunt.

Additionally, he disclosed to Givemesport that Red Devils executives have already gotten in touch in relation to a summer acquisition.

According to Jacobs, “Zirkzee is a really interesting one for the summer.” Three Premier League teams to keep an eye on are Arsenal, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur.

“Manchester United has taken a formative approach in some capacity, at least with regard to players. Although they have not moved yet, Arsenal and Spurs might do so in the summer.

“There is a release clause, worth €40 million [£34 million], if Bologna are to be believed, and it only applies to Bayern.

A move to resign him is described as “unlikely but not impossible” by Bayern sources. Thus, they cannot yet be completely disregarded. And as I say, Bologna have said on record that the release clause only applies to Bayern.”

How much will Man Utd have to spend for the striker from Bologna?

Naturally, no deal involving Zirkzee will be cheap.

But according to Jacobs, the player will probably command a starting price of at least €40 million (£34.7 million) to persuade Bologna to sell.

Explaining his asking price and why a summer move, rather than in January, looks more likely, Jacobs added: “So if we take them at their word, then the Premier League clubs are just going to have to use that €40m number as a yardstick, which means that he’ll be available in the market in the summer for a minimum of €30m-plus.

“There has been no formal approaches yet. Nothing will happen in January.”

Zirkzee most definitely matches the type of striker that United is attempting to sign under Ratcliffe. The new United supremo, who will be handed all sporting control at Old Trafford and overseeing all transfers dealings, wants to buy players in their younger years and oversee their development into their prime and one day, perhaps, selling them on for a profit.

The same business model has been applied at both Arsenal and Liverpool in recent years; now Ratcliffe wants the same approach at United.

Zirkzee certainly fits that category, and while he very much fits into that category of a player with huge potential, gone are the days of United spending vast sums to sign the big names who perhaps are already in the autumn of their careers.