Man Utd sell striker as Michael Carrick confirms Joshua Zirkzee transfer stance | Football | Sport

Manchester United have offloaded forward Joe Hugill, but manager Michael Carrick has made it clear he has no intention of allowing Joshua Zirkzee to follow him out of the door. Hugill, now 22, joined the club as a teenager from Sunderland but failed to establish himself in the first team. After loan spells with Altrincham, Burton Albion, Wigan, and Carlisle, he will now complete a permanent transfer to Kilmarnock.

United have no plans to let Zirkzee depart through the exit door, despite speculation linking the Dutchman with a return to Italy, where he originally made his reputation before his 2024 switch to the Premier League giants. His goal drought has prompted the club to invest significantly in attacking reinforcements, pushing him further down the pecking order, with clubs such as Juventus reportedly interested in securing his services.

However, Carrick insists Zirkzee remains firmly in his plans. He said: “Josh is just trying to work to get fit and get around the group. It has been great to have him back training with the group for the first time. That is as far as it goes, for me and for Josh. I am looking forward to working with him. That’s it, nothing else has been needed to be said.”

Zirkzee has been restricted to just four Premier League starts and has managed only two goals this season with playing time proving elusive.

He witnessed Rasmus Hojlund’s summer departure, with the Dane subsequently flourishing at Napoli, but it appears unlikely that Zirkzee will follow him to Italy.

Carrick had been informed that, despite his appointment as head coach until the end of the season, he would need to work with the existing squad. United’s recruitment strategy has been put on ice until the summer, though the manager isn’t completely ruling out late activity with the window shutting on Monday night.

He said: “I think we are just working through it, never say never. A lot can happen and situations can be thrown up. Sometimes it is in our control, sometimes it is out of our control that we have got to deal with. We are calm, I am pretty calm. We have got and we have shown what we are capable of doing as a team. We will have to see what the next few days bring. But we are calm about it.”

United’s primary objective is securing a midfielder, though their preferred targets won’t be accessible until the summer and will command substantial fees. They’re monitoring the likes of Elliot Anderson, Adam Wharton and Carlos Baleba.