In the most frantic closing hours of a summer that has produced more twists than any in recent Italian football history, Juventus have submitted a new formal offer to Manchester United for Joshua Zirkzee — and simultaneously placed a call to Newcastle United to explore the availability of German striker Nick Woltemade as an emergency backup option.
Zirkzee’s New Offer: €30 Million Loan with Option to Buy
According to Sky Sport Italia, Juventus’s latest proposal to Manchester United is a paid loan with an option to purchase at €30 million — a structure that has been Massara’s preferred formula for this deal since the first conversations took place weeks ago, and one that United, with Zirkzee surplus to requirements under their current management, have every reason to accept.
The player himself has been the most consistent element throughout this entire saga. Zirkzee wanted Serie A. He wanted Juventus specifically. When Fiorentina emerged as a serious suitor in the window’s final days, multiple sources confirmed he was deliberately stalling — declining to give the Viola a definitive answer because he hoped, correctly as it transpires, that Juventus would eventually be able to move for him. That loyalty, after months of deadlock linked to the Jonathan David situation, is now being rewarded with a formal offer.
The David-Atletico Equation That Makes Everything Possible
The reason Juventus can now finally move for Zirkzee is the accelerating David-to-Atletico Madrid operation. With the Canadian closer than ever to departing on a loan with option to buy — Atletico having opened contact earlier today — the financial and squad-list space that Massara has been waiting all summer to exploit is finally opening. David out, Zirkzee in: it is the sequence that has been the plan since the earliest days of the window, repeatedly frustrated by the failure to find David an exit that satisfied all parties.
Woltemade: The Plan B from Newcastle
Should the Zirkzee pursuit fail in the window’s final hours — for reasons of United’s intransigence or the David deal collapsing at the last moment — Juventus have a striking Plan B: Nick Woltemade of Newcastle United. The German centre-forward, who had already attracted Napoli’s interest in recent days according to Football Italia’s own earlier reporting, has now been contacted by Juventus as an alternative physical option. He represents a different profile to Zirkzee — taller, more aerial, more of the target-man type Spalletti has been explicitly requesting since the Parma post-match — and his availability is being assessed on a loan basis.
The first choice is Zirkzee. The offer is on the table. The window closes tonight. After months of waiting, the striker question that has defined the second half of this extraordinary summer is approaching its final answer.
