Manchester United transfer news: Indy Kaila reports that Mauricio Pochettino wants a total reset of the Manchester United squad, with Joshua Zirkzee expected to leave by next season alongside Harry Maguire and several others. Pochettino reportedly wants two elite centre-backs, two elite midfielders and a world-class striker, which leaves the Dutchman as the obvious casualty up front.

The appointment still awaits official confirmation, but Pochettino has agreed to replace Michael Carrick at a club sitting 18th after one win in 10 league games. Benjamin Sesko is reportedly out until January, so Zirkzee could still lead the line in Pochettino’s opening matches.

Why Zirkzee sits outside Pochettino’s plan

The 25-year-old cost £36.5m from Bologna in July 2024 and had scored five Premier League goals in 56 appearances before this season. Last term he managed two in 22, from just five starts, against an expected-goals figure of 2.47. Rúben Amorim once urged him to be more selfish, and Carrick started him only once, in a 0-0 draw at Sunderland in May.

His strengths are real, though. At 6ft 4in he drops into midfield, links play and dribbles past defenders more smoothly than most strikers his size, and he scored a late goal in the 4-4 draw at Aston Villa. The weakness is the end product, which a manager who coached Harry Kane at Tottenham will notice quickly.

Is selling Zirkzee a gamble for Manchester United?

Selling him is the right call, but the timing is where United could get this wrong. Pochettino’s reset points to a finisher rather than a false nine whose game is built on link play. Keeping a £36.5m signing who has not scored regularly in two years only occupies a squad place and a wage, and Juventus showed in the summer that a market exists, with a loan carrying an option to buy among the deals they explored.

The risk sits in January. United would ideally replace him then, yet that depends on their finances, and Sesko is already unavailable. Sell Zirkzee before a new striker arrives and Pochettino has one number nine while United chase league points and Champions League results together.

The sensible plan is to recruit first, move Zirkzee in the summer once Sesko is fit, and accept a fee below £36.5m rather than a panic discount. United can’t fix one weakness by thinning the attack.