Juventus Targets Zirkzee and Kolo Muani for Attack Overhaul

Joshua Zirkzee has given the green light to Juventus – and the Turin club are wasting no time trying to turn that nod into a deal.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Manchester United forward has granted initial approval to a summer move, with Juventus now locked in intensive talks with his agent, Kia Joorabchian, over a loan. The discussions are described as aggressive, urgent, and very much driven from the top of the club.

This is not a name plucked from nowhere. New football director Ricky Massara has admired Zirkzee for some time and tried to take him to Roma in the winter window. That move never materialised. Now, with a new job and a squad in need of fresh ideas in attack, Massara has returned to a familiar target.

Zirkzee’s numbers in Italy still carry weight. Twelve goals and seven assists for Bologna in the 2023-24 Serie A campaign marked him out as one of the league’s most intriguing modern forwards: tall, technically polished, comfortable linking play and drifting between the lines. That version of Zirkzee has rarely been seen since his switch to the Premier League, where he has struggled to impose himself and lost his starting place, managing just 19 starts in 68 league appearances over the last two seasons.

Juventus believe Italy is where his qualities can breathe again. His profile is seen as a natural fit for Luciano Spalletti’s tactical demands, with the coach keen on a forward who can knit together attacks rather than simply finish them.

Second Target

But Zirkzee is only half of the plan.

At the same time, the club hierarchy is prioritising a move for Paris Saint-Germain striker Randal Kolo Muani, with Gazzetta reporting that CEO Giovanni Carnevali is working to close a €40 million deal. The idea is clear: blend Zirkzee’s finesse with Kolo Muani’s pace and direct running to create a far more unpredictable and explosive frontline.

The urgency has a very real trigger. An injury to young Italian striker Jeff Ekhator has stripped depth from an already thin attack, pushing Juventus into an aggressive stance in the market. The club do not want stop-gaps. They want a retooled forward line that can carry them through an entire season.

Pre-Season Concerns

Spalletti, for now, waits. The coach is pressing for clarity on when these two deals can be completed, conscious that every lost day in pre-season is a lost day of tactical work. Juventus need their core squad in place quickly if the new arrivals are to adapt to his system before competitive football returns.

The calendar offers no comfort. Juventus open their Serie A campaign away to newly promoted Frosinone on August 23, a fixture that looks gentle on paper but can be treacherous for a team still learning each other’s movements.

If Zirkzee and Kolo Muani walk through the doors in time, that trip could mark the first glimpse of a very different Juventus attack. If they do not, the season may begin with the same old questions hanging over the Bianconeri’s cutting edge.