The sensational £79m Man United swap transfer deal could make in January - but they really shouldn't

You never have to wait too long for the next wild transfer rumour involving Manchester United. There can’t be all that many top-tier players in the world that some media outlet or other hasn’t linked them with, and most such links never come to fruition. Appointing a new manager has, of course, only served to accelerate the flow of such stories, all of which makes it easy to dismiss them when they come along – but one, relating to Joshua Zirkzee, seems to be sticking around.

There are many variations on the theme, but a surprising number of stories have suggested that Manchester United are already trying to sell their £36.5m summer signing. Some specifically claim that new head coach Ruben Amorim wants him gone, and one very recent series of reports, including this piece from GiveMeSport, even claims that he could be involved in a swap deal that would see him leave Old Trafford less than six months after he arrived. Can there really be any substance to those stories? And does abandoning Zirkzee already make any sense?

The story involving a swap deal seems to originate from Italian digital outlet Tutto Juve, and claims that Juventus are not only interested in Zirkzee but could try to engineer a deal which would see former Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz go the other way in a move which would see two major teams quickly abandoning expensive projects.

Douglas Luiz was a key player at Villa Park and critical to the club’s successful top four campaign last season, but left for Juventus in a £42m deal in the off-season. It hasn’t gone according to plan – new head coach Thiago Motta seems unimpressed by his new charge and he has started just two Serie A matches, with numerous rumours suggesting that he and the club could part ways already.

Thiago Motta, meanwhile, is Zirkzee’s former boss from the Dutchman’s successful spell at Bologna. All the ingredients are there for a deal – not that there aren’t some red flags in the reporting.

Firstly, the source is somewhat questionable and fires out a high volume of low-detail transfer reportage about Juve. That doesn’t mean they’re always wrong, of course, but no truly reliable outlets have yet carried this claim themselves – and most rumours concerning Zirkzee’s potential departure have hinted a loan move in January, not a permanent swap deal.

Secondly, while Douglas Luiz’s career in Turin may not be off to the best start, there are complicating factors – not least that his partner, Swiss international Alisha Lehmann, transferred from Villa’s women’s team to Juventus at the same time as he left. He has a clear personal reason to stay put and persevere. Even past that, the mechanics of a swap deal involving £78.5m worth of player would be challenging to negotiate. There is a reason such deals seldom happen these days.

In other words, while there are some logical connections being made to fuel the story, it’s not very likely to happen, at least in January. Swap deals rarely do these days. But that only leads to the second question – should United really give up on Zirkzee already?

Former manager Erik ten Hag’s decision to sign Zirkzee as an out-and-out, line-leading number nine always felt a little strange. While he was generally marked on the team sheet as a centre-forward at Bologna, he didn’t play off the shoulder or act as a target man, but instead dropped deep into the channels around the penalty area, acting as much as a creator as a goalscorer.

Since arriving at Old Trafford, he has been shoehorned into an unfamiliar role as a true striker and the results (just one goal on the opening day of the season) have reflected his discomfort. But new manager Ruben Amorim’s system seems to suit him rather better.

As well as a central striker, Amorim’s 3-4-3 uses two wider supporting forwards, but it would be somewhat inaccurate to describe them as wingers – they occupy much narrower roles, well inside the wing-back and closer to the striker. In other words, they attack the same channels in and around the edges of the penalty area that Zirkzee did at Bologna, playing off the focal point of the attack just as he once did.

The Dutchman’s form may be through the floor, but it would make little sense to not see how he handled that position. There will be plenty of competition for a sport between Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Mason Mount (another player likely to benefit from the new system) but at least he would be asked to play the way he’s used to, and the way in which he flourished while in Italy.

There’s no arguing with the fact that Zirkzee has been poor, but his performances in Serie A were highly impressive and abandoning an expensive project so swiftly would seem to be a strangely self-destructive decision when there is at least some chance that he could contribute under the new broom. It’s also worth noting that he came off the bench for Amorim’s first match in charge against Ipswich Town despite the allegations that the Portuguese manager wants him gone.

If he can’t find some form before the end of January, then perhaps Juventus will be on the phone, although it’s more likely that the conversation would be about a loan than about a swap deal involving Douglas Luiz, who will probably remain in Turin until the summer, at least. But don’t be surprised if Zirkzee’s story at Old Trafford is far from finished.