Super-agent Kia Joorabchian is working to take Bologna star Joshua Zirkzee to Aston Villa in the summer, and potentially upset some of their Premier League rivals.
That’s according to Bologna Sport News, relaying information from Il Resto del Carlino, who say Aston Villa are thinking about a move for Zirkzee if they manage to secure qualification for the Champions League.
The newspaper reports that Aston Villa have joined a growing contingent of interested parties from the Premier League when it comes to Zirkzee, who has already been linked with Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle United.
They say that Aston Villa director of football Monchi, who knows the Italian market well following his time at Roma, has shown an interest in the Dutchman as he plans for next season.
He knows that Unai Emery’s squad will need strengthening if they qualify for the Champions League and ‘would like’ to take Zirkzee if given the opportunity to do so.
Contact has already been made with the player’s agent, Kia Joorabchian, to try and discover how much the striker could end up costing.
At the moment he earns around €800-900,000 a year plus bonuses and the agent has made it clear that Zirkzee will want that increasing to just under €4m if he is to leave Bologna.
That would need to be added to a cost of around €60-70m to convince the Italian side into a sale this summer.
Whether Aston Villa are willing to match those demands remains to be seen and their interest is very much dependent on them qualifying for the Champions League first.
But interest has been registered and Joorabchian is keen, with the agent now working on the potential deal behind the scenes ahead of a busy summer for him and his client.