Zirkzee set to to make decision on future with Everton battling Serie A strugglers – report
Bayern Munich sensation Joshua Zirkzee is set to give his answer to Parma on whether he will move to Italy with Everton still in the hunt for the 19-year-old striker.
The news of Everton’s interest in the 19-year-old was first broken by talkSPORT who said the Blues were closing in on the Bayern back-up forward with a loan to buy deal on the table.
However they have faced competition from other sides and it appears that they are now the frontrunners alongside Serie A strugglers Parma for his signature.
Matteo Moretto, working for Italian outlet Sky Sport, revealed that Parma are advancing on a deal for Zirkzee and are “missing the last ok of the boy who will give an answer in the next few hours”.
It would seem that negotiations are reaching an imminent conclusion as the Dutch youth international plots the best developmental stage for his career.
He will have to decide whether he fancies a Serie A survival scrap with Parma in 19th place or a shot at European football at Everton with Carlo Ancelotti’s side sitting pretty in sixth in the Premier League.
Valuable addition for the short and long term
Everton fans will be desperate for Zirkzee to choose Goodison Park over Italy with the Blues lacking serious cover in the striking department.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has led the way this season scoring 11 Premier League goals but he has not netted since a 1-1 draw at Burnley on December 5 and he recently suffered an injury which caused him to miss a couple of games.
This was a real worry despite the Toffees coming out on top 2-1 in both games (v Rotherham United and Wolves).
Ancelotti opted to field the out-of-favour Cenk Tosun in the FA Cup against Rotherham but dropped him for the trip to Molineux and instead deployed James Rodriguez and Gylfi Sigurdsson as advanced midfielders rather than naming a recognised striker.
This showed a clear lack of faith in Tosun’s abilities by Ancelotti and sent a timely reminder to director of football Marcel Brands that reinforcements are essential in this area.
Zirkzee has barely featured for Bayern this season but he did scored an impressive four times in nine Bundesliga appearances last season as he showed his prodigious pedigree.
The Blues clearly need extra firepower and a move for Zirkzee ticks all the boxes with his clinical finishing and youthful years.
In other Everton news, big injury boost for Ancelotti as date set for Allan’s return to training.