Arsenal in the running to sign Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee

Arsenal are in a three-way race with AC Milan and Manchester United to sign Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee this summer, according to Gazzetta dello Sport (page 12).

The Dutchman has had a good second season with Bologna. He has netted 11 goals and provided six assists from 30 appearances across all competitions.

His progress has caught the eye of many European clubs and it is claimed that the Gunners are one of the contenders alongside the Red Devils and the Rossoneri.

Bayern currently have an option to buy back Zirkzee for €40 million, but they are not looking at the option. They prefer to secure a good sell-on fee instead.

Gazzetta dello Sport claim that it will take at least €40m to sign the 22-year-old, but the price could be much more if Bologna qualify for the Champions League.

The Serie A outfit could demand as much as €75m up front. They consider Rasmus Hojlund’s transfer to United as a potential benchmark for a summer deal.

Bologna have not ruled out the option of keeping Zirkzee for another year.

Arsenal should look at a more high-profile striker

The Gunners are currently lagging behind in the centre-forward department when compared to their title rivals.

Manchester City have Erling Braut Haaland in prime form. Liverpool have started to get the best out of Darwin Nunez.

Gabriel Jesus was expected to provide the solution for the Gunners, but he has been largely injury prone at the club.

Arsenal need a goalscoring number nine in future. We don’t believe Zirkzee would be a good candidate for the job.

Zirzkee definitely has potential to become one but as things stand, he is a young unproven talent at the highest level.

The Dutch ace has netted 10 or more goals for just two seasons and one of those was with Anderlecht in Belgium.

Instead of making a huge outlay on him, we would instead prefer Arsenal to land Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting.

The Swede has been in sensational form with 36 goals and 14 assists from 50 outings.

The 25-year-old has a release clause worth €100 million and Arsenal seem willing to pay the fee this summer.

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