Frank de Boer has urged Dutch-Nigerian born striker Joshua Zirkzee to ignore Manchester United and join Arsenal if he ends up in the English Premier League.
Zirkee, who has made great impact with Bologna this season scoring 11 Serie A goals as the club finished fourth and secured qualification for the Champions League, is also wanted by Inter Milan, AC Milan and Paris St Germain.
De Boer, a centre back who played for Ajax and Barcelona said Zirkee would fit perfectly well at Arsenal and should consider joining.
De Boer told Calciomercato: ‘I have great respect for Arsenal, they have patience, for example they had it with Arteta who didn’t start well.
‘In some clubs, if it happens like this you are already out. And he has played very well in the last two years, Inter also play well.
‘If I have to say someone I prefer Arsenal because they have the patience to wait for him and give him confidence.’
It’s understood that Zirkzee is available for €40 million (£34m) this summer due to a release clause in his deal with Bologna.
The 23-year-old joined the Serie A club for £10m (€8.5m) from Bayern Munich in August 2022.
Bayern also included a buyback option as part of their agreement with Bologna, although the German club have given no indication that they are looking to activate that this summer.
Earlier this month, Inter made it clear that Zirkzee is on their radar ahead of the summer transfer window.
‘Zirkzee is a great champion,’ said Inter’s vice-president Javier Zanetti.
‘We are talking about a young, talented, intelligent, physically very strong player.
‘Someone like that would be useful to any great team aiming for important goals.
Zirkzee was in contention to feature for Netherlands at Euro 2024 this summer but he was not included in Ronald Koeman’s provisional squad.
