Euro giants ‘accept defeat’ in Rashford pursuit – now they’re eyeing loans for £100.5m United duo

Stretty News

·20 gennaio 2025

Euro giants ‘accept defeat’ in Rashford pursuit – now they’re eyeing loans for £100.5m United duo

AC Milan have now ‘accepted defeat’ in their pursuit of Marcus Rashford, according to a fresh report from ESPN this morning.

Despite heading into the January window as the major favourites to sanction the Manchester United outcast’s arrival, Milan are now prioritising a move for Manchester City wantaway Kyle Walker.

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With room for only one more non-EU player in their squad, they’ve had no choice but to turn their full attention to Rashford’s cross-city compatriot after learning of the forward’s preference to join Barcelona – though their precarious financial situation means fringe players will need to be offloaded before the February 3 deadline.

However, the Italian giants aren’t closed off to doing business with United in another form…

Milan begin targeting Rashford alternatives

Milan are now interested in struggling duo Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Mark Ogden adds in his piece that Milan are now targeting £100.5 million duo Joshua Zirkzee (£36.5m) and Rasmus Hojlund (£64m) on loan, as well as Chelsea’s out-of-favour Joao Felix.

Zirkzee, 23, was previously linked with Juventus, with Fabrizio Romano revealing last week that the club made a last-ditch attempt to sign him before pursuing Randal Kolo Muani from Paris Saint-Germain.

As for Hojlund, he has endured a torrid term in front of goal and has found the back of the net only twice in 17 Premier League appearances.

Should United agree to offload either attacker, a replacement is imperative considering the lack of options Ruben Amorim may have at his disposal for the second half of the campaign; Rashford is expected to depart imminently, Antony is on the verge of signing for Real Betis on loan, and Alejandro Garnacho is being heavily pursued by Napoli.