Fiorentina Leading Juventus for Zirkzee Transfer

Joshua Zirkzee’s Manchester United story looks close to its final chapter, and Serie A is lining up to write the next one. Both Fiorentina and Juventus want him back in Italy. Right now, Fiorentina are the club pushing hardest – and fastest.

At Old Trafford, the picture is clear. United are prepared to let the 25-year-old leave before the end of the summer window. Two years of sporadic chances, five Premier League starts last season, and no minutes at all in the opening game of the 2026-27 campaign against newly-promoted Hull City tell their own tale.

The return of Marcus Rashford from his loan at Barcelona has only tightened the squeeze. Zirkzee, once a promising option, now finds himself sliding further down the attacking hierarchy.

Italy, though, remembers a different version of him. The forward who hit 11 Serie A goals for Bologna in 2023-24, linking play, drifting into pockets, and punishing mistakes. That season turned him into a serious asset, and it is that player Fiorentina and Juventus are trying to bring back.

Juventus’s interest is real, but complicated. They are still in the market for another attacker, yet their room to manoeuvre depends on moving players out. Jonathan David is the key piece there. Until the Canadian finds a new home, Juve’s pursuit of Zirkzee remains stuck in the planning stage rather than on the verge of a bid.

Fiorentina’s need is more urgent. Moise Kean is on his way to Como in a €40m deal, a significant departure and a direct hole in Vincenzo Italiano’s attack. La Viola cannot afford to wait around. They need a replacement who knows the league, understands the tempo, and can step straight into a side with European ambitions.

That urgency has shifted the balance. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Fiorentina are now in the strongest position to reach an agreement with Manchester United. Juventus hover in the background, but their situation is conditional. Fiorentina’s is immediate.

So Zirkzee stands at a familiar crossroads: a stalled role in England on one side, and a return to a league where he has already proved himself on the other. If Fiorentina move as decisively off the pitch as they need him to be on it, the next time he walks out of a tunnel, it may well be in purple again.